


The City of Demons

by Certified_Cat_Hoarder



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Chloe Decker Finds Out, Demons, Devil Face (Lucifer TV), Episode: s03e24 A Devil of My Word, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hell, Post-Episode: s03e24 A Devil of My Word, Rebellion, Torture, hell loops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-03-07 05:24:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18866614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Certified_Cat_Hoarder/pseuds/Certified_Cat_Hoarder
Summary: ***MAJOR SPOILERS FOR LUCIFER S3***After the S3 finale, nothing was the same. When Lucifer becomes so distraught by the Detective's reaction that he returns to Hell, Chloe comes to realize she'd do anything to protect Lucifer, even if it means a trip to the City of Demons.Picks up right where the finale left off.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone!
> 
> This fic took WAY too long for me to finish. I actually started this thing back in January of this year (I prefer writing my drafts on Google Docs), but I became so busy and was troubled with such horrible writers block, it took me forever to wrap this thing up! I swear all similarities to the plot of season 4 were purely coincidental.
> 
> I live for your guys' feedback, so please don't hesitate to comment. I make an effort to respond to every one. Even if you're a bit late to finding this fic, please feel free to leave your thoughts anyway! 
> 
> I'll aim to post a new chapter every other day. Here we go!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own "Lucifer," nor any of its characters. Also, all indented and italicized text is actual dialogue from the show, and I do not own any of it. Only the story itself and the original characters involved created for it are my own.
> 
> DO NOT RE-POST THIS WORK. EVEN TRANSLATED, POSTED ON A DIFFERENT SITE, AND/OR WITH CREDIT GIVEN. RE-POSTING THIS WORK IS PLAGIARISM.

He’d been here just a moment ago, right here on the roof, holding her in his arms. And then he was just… gone. Had disappeared into thin air, had vanished like some kind of magic, like some kind of biblical power.

Chloe blinked. Suddenly what Dan and Ella were saying on the other end of the phone had become inaudible. He’d been here two seconds ago. Where had he gone?

Maybe she did know. Maybe she’d been avoiding the truth this whole time. Maybe...

Gunshots rang from somewhere downstairs.

Chloe lowered the phone as Dan’s panicked voice chirped through the speaker. She had to see him, needed to find him because what if it _wasn’t_ true? What if he was just as human as ever? And now his delusions had led him to the middle of gunfight - again.

A few sets of stairs and an elevator ride later, she stepped back out onto the floor where she had just been. The gunfire had ceased, and whether that was good or bad, she could tell that much at least.

“And I am a _Devil_ of my word!” Lucifer’s voice bellowed down the halls, carrying with it that deathly sincerity it often did when his emotions ran high.

His voice and another reduced to murmurs as she neared the scene, and then laughter, then... silence.

Chloe turned the corner and traveled down the small staircase.

There he was, crouched over a still body.

“Lucifer?”

He stood, and she could see now that that was Pierce laying on the ground, the hilt of a blade protruding from his chest.

“Lucifer…?”

And he turned around.

But that wasn’t him; that _wasn’t_ Lucifer. It was-

“It’s all true…” Chloe’s heart was pounding in her ears. She took a step back, her eyes wide and panicked.

> _“Why are you surprised, detective? I’m the the devil, remember? I’m evil!”_

“Detective?” It was his voice but it was _not_ him. It _couldn’t_ be him because that would mean he was-

“No, no, no, no, _no_ ,” Chloe’s heels hit the first step of the staircase behind her. Had she really backed that far away? She shook her head him - at _it_ \- and lowered herself to the floor. She looked away, pinched her eyes closed, looked back up and-

Now it was him. That was Lucifer, that was Lucifer’s face, but...

“Detective?” He said again with more concern in his voice, taking a step forward and hearing a gasp of alarm from Chloe. The young woman stuck out a hand, a sign for him to please _stop_.

Dawning crossed Lucifer’s face. He raised a hand and touched his cheek gently, Pierce’s victorious laughter ringing in his ears. That was his face he was feeling, not his Devil’s Face, but it was too late; she’d seen it.

> _“You can’t outrun what you’ve done, what you truly are.”_
> 
> _“And neither can you.”_

He took another cautious step forward, intending to console her, something, _anything_.

“Chloe, please, I can exp-”

“Please, _don’t_ ,” Chloe said, resisting the urge to vomit, “ _don’t_ come any closer.”

Lucifer gaped at her, his tear ducts welling as he watched helplessly.

“Very well,” he responded, his voice a choked murmur. “Chloe I’m-”

Chloe’s face pinched in fear, pain, denial - all of the above.

“I’m so sorry.”

He took a step back, then another. They were both in tears. Lucifer turned away from her, staggered slowly away through the door frame at the other end of the room, and disappeared around the corner.

Chloe broke into gasping sobs. It was all true. He was the devil.

> _“If you saw all of me - knew all of me - you would run away.”_

Unheard to Chloe, police sirens rang faintly from the street below.

> _"The other side of me… it’s bad- monstrous, even. Chloe… I_ am _the devil.”_

He’d said that. She’d _known_ deep down that he was a monster. She’d _known_ he was the devil, and yet she’d allowed herself to care about him. So what kind of monster did that make her?

Her gaze flickered from the floor to Pierce’s immobile body. Blood had slowly started to well around him, and his lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling. His mouth was slightly ajar, as though, in his final moments, he couldn’t believe this was finally it, this was how he would die:

Murdered.

Sure, Pierce had been a terrible person, but… he was still _human_. He didn’t deserve this. No one deserved to be killed in cold blood. The thing that had done this was a monster.

>  " _I_ am _the devil"_

“Chloe?” A hand touched her shoulder, and Chloe flinched. When she looked up, her eyes red and wet from tears, she met Dan’s concerned gaze. She looked at him helplessly, her body finally having stopped quivering but her mind still racing.

“Chloe, what happened?” He asked, crouching beside her.

She looked back at Pierce. “Lucifer…” words wouldn’t form. What would she even say, if she managed to gasp out something coherent?

Dan followed Chloe’s gaze, his expression darkening. They remained quiet for a few moments as other officers swarmed in and began the preliminary steps of preserving the crime scene. Dan thought of Charlotte. He thought of her lifeless, mercilessly-killed body: one shot to the chest, an execution, an unnecessary, heartless death. Dan narrowed his eyes at Pierce’s corpse.

“Good,” he spat. Then, softening his tone and expression, “C’mon. You can give your statement tomorrow. I’ll take you home.”

Dan helped Chloe to her feet and wrapped a comforting arm around her back. Chloe melted into his side as he delivered instructions to officers on the scene. Then, gently, he led her downstairs, outside, and to his car.

The LA sights flew by, but Chloe couldn’t see them.

How many times had she seen him throw a man like he was swatting a fly? How many times had she seen him pin someone against the wall one handed? How had she ignored that rage, that pure and starving rage that boiled to the surface far to often? What about how he’d disappear, or something unexplainable would happen around him? How often had he growled about needing to deliver punishment, seen him stalk his merciless human prey, an immutable force held back only by choice?

How had she been so _blind_?

He was a cold-blooded monster of biblical proportions driven by a hot and fiery rage, and she had willfully ignored every flashing neon sign.

“Chloe,” Dan began, releasing a sigh, “ I know… I know you don’t want to talk about it right now, but I need to know here Lucifer is. Him fleeing the scene… It doesn’t look good.”

Where was Lucifer? He’d been upset when he left, and she’d seen how he could be when he was upset, and he’d just killed someone. But then again, suppose he’d done this before? Then it wouldn't be such a big deal to him. Who else had he hurt- _would_ he hurt? Where was the Devil?

“I don’t know,” Chloe whispered.

“Okay,” Dan responded with concern, “It’s okay. We’ll find him. Don’t worry, Chlo, he’ll be alright.”

Chloe nodded feebly. It wasn’t Lucifer she was worried about; it was all of LA.

The Devil was loose.

 

* * *

 

Chloe’s thoughts were still swarming as Dan had opened the door to her home and led her to her bedroom. He’d helped her into bed and pulled the sheets up once she’d settled, then excused the hired babysitter.

Small, faint footsteps signaled Trixie emerging from her room. The young girl looked worriedly at her mother, who lay curled up and staring vacantly at the wall. “Daddy,” Trixie asked, tugging at her father’s sleeve, “Is Mommy okay?”

Dan sighed and crouched to her level. He gave her a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, Monkey. Mommy… Mommy’s just tired, and she’s feeling a little sad. She’ll feel better soon.”

His daughter nodded, still casting concerned glances at Chloe.

“Listen, Monkey, I need to get back to work, but… can you take care of Mommy for me?”

Trixie nodded vigorously. Dan kissed the top of her head, then the young girl leaped into Chloe’s bed and burrowed down into the covers. She snuggled up against her mother’s chest, and Chloe instinctively wrapped her arms around her daughter.

Dan glanced a final time at the two, then left, locking the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

Chloe slept restlessly in a cold sweat, her dreams plagued by flashes of sneering fleshy faces and sinister crimson eyes peering through darkness, LA on fire and shadowy figures with hooked knives doing terrible things to the people of the city.

There was a knock at the door, but apparently Chloe couldn’t hear it. Trixie stirred beside her mom, who had tossed over onto her other side and was now facing away from her sleepy-eyed daughter.

“Mommy?” Trixie asked, gently poking Chloe’s shoulder. “There’s someone at the door.”

Faintly, Chloe groaned, then buried her head under her pillow.

Trixie gave her mom a confused frown, then crawled out of bed. Whoever was at the door knocked again, and Trixie wandered over to undo the latch. Then, cautiously, she opened the door.

Maze stood out front, looking about distractedly behind her and dancing from one foot to the other like she was about ready to bolt, as though she were anxious. But that would be ridiculous because Maze didn’t get anxious - she was _Maze_. Her face was bruised, one eye slightly swollen, and a cut on her forehead was still a touch bloody. She’d worn long sleeves, which wasn’t usually her style, in order to cover up the numerous gashess still littering her arms from her recent kidnapping.

When the door swung slightly ajar, Maze’s head snapped back and met Trixie’s gaze, who glared back with defiance.

“Hey…” The demon said gently, attempting a smile.

The young girl swung the door in an attempt to slam it shut as she ran to her room, but Maze caught it with a foot.

“Wait, Trixie!” Maze called, entering the house and shutting the door. She watched with a frustrated sigh as Trixie pulled her bedroom door closed and locking it behind her. Maze marched up to the door, tapping it with her knuckles. “Kid, c’mon, I just wanna talk.”

When there was no response, Maze sighed again. “Kid, please! I’m... sorry, okay?” She pinched her lips together. On the other side of the door, Trixie sat on her bed with tears in her eyes, glaring at the door like she could shoot lasers through it if she only could focus her anger.

“I’m sorry,” Maze continued, “What I said… I didn’t mean it. I was upset and-” she shuffled her feet; Linda had made this sound a lot easier than it was.”I shouldn’t have said what I did. Okay, kid? I don’t hate you. You’re my friend, probably the only one I have left.”

When there was still no answer, Maze shook her head in frustration. She sat down against the doorframe, her head leaned back and her eyes closed. _Fuck,_ she had a headache. This whole ordeal of _feelings_ was starting to take its toll.

Trixie still stared at the door. She was chewing on her lip, and her gaze had significantly less hostility. After a few moments of hesitation, she slid off her bed and delicately unlocked the door.

When Maze heard the lock click, she scrambled back to her feet and watched sheepishly as Trixie peered out from the cracked-open door.

“Hey,” the demon murmured.

Trixie opened the door more, looking at Maze with a slightly furrowed brow. Then, with a sudden shrug, she said, “I forgive you,” and launched a hug at her friend’s leg. Maze stumbled a bit, holding her hands up like she wasn’t sure what was happening, but eventually she crouched down and returned Trixie’s hug.

Then, the young girl pulled away slightly. “I forgive you,” she repeated, “but you owe me chocolate cake.”

Maze smirked at her; there was the bright, feisty girl she knew. “Deal.”

“Get away from her,” Chloe barked suddenly. Both Maze and Trixie turned with surprise. Chloe had managed to pull herself out of bed and shambled to the doorframe of her room. Now she was glaring at Maze with such contempt it took even the demon aback. Chloe’s hair was a complete mess, her eyes red and puffy. Her right finger was twitching, hand absent of a gun but clearly she was wishing she had one holstered.

“Woah, did you get hit with a bus?” Maze asked.

“Get. Away. From my daughter,” Chloe growled.

Maze lifted her hands, taking a step away from Trixie. “Calm down, Decker. What’s got your panties in a twist?”

“Now get out of my house. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“Mommy, why?” Trixie cried, but both women ignored her.

The demon’s face fell into a mixture of realization and intrigue. “You finally know, don’t you?”

> _“I was forged in the bowels of hell to torture the guilty of all of eternity.”_

“Just get the _hell_ out, Maze!”

Maze shook her head in disappointment and gave a sorry smile to Trixie. “Fine,” she said simply. With a final glance at both of them, Maze turned and walked out of the house.

“Why did you do that?” Trixie demanded. Chloe turned to her daughter, kneeling down and placing her hands on the child’s shoulders.

“It’s complicated, Monkey.”

“You didn’t need to do that. Maze is nice, and you’re just mean.”

“Trixie, I-”

But Trixie was already storming back to her room, shutting her door with conviction. Chloe sighed in defeat and ran her hands over her face. What was she _supposed_ to have done? Maze was a _fucking demon_ for Christ’s sake! She’d let a demon into her house, had let it babysit her daughter. They’d both become _fucking_ friends with a _fucking_ demon. And, oh yeah, the _devil._

> _“And to think I almost killed you in your sleep that one time!”_
> 
> _“Wait, what!?”_

Chloe shook her head, rising back to her feet and shambling towards the kitchen to start breakfast.


	2. Chapter 2

Trixie and Chloe sat through breakfast in uncomfortable silence. The detective wanted desperately to console her daughter, but she couldn’t for the life of her think of what to say. Besides, she realized as she sat nursing her coffee, she’d need to focus on coming up with a story for her statement that wouldn’t make her sound bonkers.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door, and Chloe rose to answer it, peering through the peephole to confirm it was, in fact, Dan. He’d texted earlier that morning to say that he’d pick the two of them up, since Chloe’s cruiser was still at the crime scene.

The crime scene, Pierce, Lucifer- as soon as she opened the door, the weight of what she’d experienced the day before all washed back over her. Chloe had been holding it together pretty well that morning, all things considered. She’d managed a shower, made breakfast, packed Trixie’s lunch, and even remembered how to dress herself. As always, having something to focus her energy on had temporarily quelled her emotions.  But seeing Dan waiting on the porch to take her back to the station, her heart skipped a beat.

Dan must have felt the palpable tension between Chloe and Trixie because he was quiet the whole drive. He dropped Trixie off at school, giving her a hug and wishing her a good day, then drove the rest of the way to the station.

It was eerily quiet inside. All heads turned to regard Chloe with a mixture of doubt and disapproval as Dan led her to the interrogation room where she would be giving her statement. On the way over, she made eye contact with a few of her coworkers, who immediately looked away. With a jolt, Chloe remembered that almost all of her coworkers had no knowledge of Pierce’s treachery. They knew only that she had been involved in Pierce’s death - the death of the lieutenant and her ex-fiance.

Dan squeezed Chloe’s hand comfortingly as she settled into her chair. It would be a federal agent conducting the investigation, given the ranking of the death in question, and the investigator had yet to arrive.

“Hey,” Dan murmured, and Chloe met his gaze reluctantly. “You’ll be fine. Everything with Pierce, and what he did… You and Lucifer did the right thing. Just tell the truth.”

Just tell the truth. Sure, it was that simple.  _ Well, Lucifer - yes,  _ that _ Lucifer - killed Pierce, who was apparently the notorious “Sinner Man.” And, oh yeah, according to Lucifer, Pierce was also Cain from the bible, because that actually doesn’t sound so far-fetched now. _

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose. She’d been about to marry Pierce, the corrupt police lieutenant secretly known as the Sinner Man who just so happened to be the immortal world’s first murderer. Was there  _ anything  _ normal left in her life?

The door swung open, and a women dressed in a blue collared shirt and a grey pencil skirt strode into the room. Her black hair was twisted into a neat bun, with a sleek black briefcase held in one manicured hand, and she carried herself in the classic manner of a federal agent. “Hello, Detective Decker” the woman greeted, “I’m agent Jordan Bromson. I’ll be conducting the investigation into the death of Lieutenant Pierce.” She turned her authoritative brown eyes on Dan. “I’m going to need to ask you to leave the room.”

Dan nodded curtly and gave Chloe’s hand one last squeeze before leaving the two alone.

Chloe sat quietly, watching as the agent snapped open her briefcase and withdrew a neat navy-blue folder and a tape-recorder. The woman meticulously set the two items on the table. Chloe swallowed a lump in her throat. The room felt significantly emptier without Dan’s comforting presence. Bromson shut her briefcase and set it on the floor beside her chair, studied Chloe’s face as she clicked on the tape-recorder, then clasped her hands together on the desk.

Bromson started with all the initial comments necessary for the recording: the case number, the people present in the room, and so forth.

“Detective Chloe Decker, do you swear the statement you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

Chloe swallowed again, blinked at the agent and pinched her lips.

“Detective Decker, please answer the question.”

“Yes.”

Bromson nodded. “And is your statement being coerced in any way?

“No, it is not.”

“Excellent.”

And then they began.

Bromson started by asking about Chloe’s relationship with Pierce, and Pierce’s relationship to Lucifer Morningstar. Chloe then described the revelation that Pierce was the Sinner Man, that he had killed Charlotte Richards, and the events leading up to the trap he had set. She recounted how he had shot her in the chest and that she had been knocked unconscious despite her vest; how Lucifer had managed to get her to safety; how, while she was unconscious, he had taken out Pierce’s goons and then Pierce himself.

She manipulated parts of the truth, of course. Instead of waking up on the building’s roof, Lucifer had deposited her in a safe location behind a wall on the same floor. She didn’t describe the chilling words she’d heard echoing down the halls just before Pierce had died. Pierce was merely human in her story, not the legendary Cain, and she made sure to avoid mentioning Lucifer’s true face.

“And what about the feathers?” Bromson asked, opening her folder.

“Feathers?” Chloe furrowed her brow. Bromson slid a photo across the desk, and the detective gaped in surprise.

Of course. Feathers. She remembered now, seeing them scattered all over the room. White feathers stained red with blood. She couldn’t remove her eyes from the picture.

“Right... The feathers.” Chloe wet her lips with the tip of her tongue.

Feathers.

Lucifer had complained about having his wings back- having  _ angel  _ wings back.

Could… Could they be….?

These were Lucifer’s feathers she was looking at. Lucifer’s wings had shed these feathers, because that’s what he was: an angel. Maybe he didn’t want to be, but that was besides the point. Lucifer was  _ good _ ! Despite his name, despite his face, despite his temper - he had always been honest and he had always been good. He was still Lucifer; he was still her partner. Nothing had changed.

> _"_ _Chloe…. I really am the devil”_
> 
> _ “No you’re not. Not to me.” _

“Detective Decker? Where did the feathers come from?”

“Of course, sorry.” Chloe’s heart was thumping. She was struggling not to smile - for once she had come across good news - because a smile would cause Bromson to question her statement. “There was a lot of old junk in the room, and with all the gunfire, I wouldn’t be surprised if a pillow or something was hit.” The lie slid easily off her tongue.

That answer seemed to satisfy Bromson. “I’ll have your forensics team test the feathers.”

“Great,” Chloe responded, but she realized this was so  _ not _ great. She’d only just confirmed that celestial beings existed within the last twenty-four hours or so, but she had little doubt that the test on the angel feathers would come back as anything  _ but _ mortal or synthetic. Plus, back when she had a sample, Lucifer was certain a test of his blood would prove he was, indeed, the devil. So, why would angel feathers be any different? Chloe realized that she would never be able to explain the truth, not without her being sent to an asylum.

She could not allow those feathers to be tested.

“Is there anything else?” Chloe asked, chewing her lip.

Bromson narrowed her eyes slightly. “Yes, I have one more question. How is it that a civilian consultant was able to incapacitate a dozen men armed with machine guns?”

Chloe shrugged slightly. “You’d be surprised by what Lucifer is capable of in those situations. Ask anyone in the station, and they’d say the same.”

“Capable of murder?”

“No, of course not,” Chloe returned, shaking her head. “He didn’t murder anyone. Pierce… Pierce was self-defense.”

Was it? Chloe wasn’t certain herself, but was she  _ was _ sure of was that Lucifer was not a cold-blooded killer. Whatever happened with him and Pierce -  _ Cain _ \- she believed it must have been necessary. She had to believe that.

The two women held each others gazes for some time, studying each other.

“Thank you, Detective, that will be all for today,” Bromson said at last, clicking off the tape-recorder and closing her folder. She returned the two items to her briefcase as she and Chloe stood. “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you to stay in town until the investigation is over?”

“Of course.”

“Excellent.” Bromson gave Chloe a dignified smile. “I’ll be seeing you again soon.”

Chloe nodded politely. The agent started towards the door, then stopped suddenly. 

“Oh, I nearly forgot: You’ve been granted a few days off from active duty. Enjoy.” It was the polite way to say she wasn’t allowed back on the force until the matter of Pierce’s death had been resolved. With a final cold little smile, Bromson left.

As soon as she was gone, Chloe released a breath. She ran a hand over her face, allowing her mind to process this change in perspective. Lucifer truly was the devil, but he wasn’t the monster she had feared him to be. He was entitled to the biggest “I told you so!” of the century and an enormous apology. In addition to that, the forensics team was about to test Lucifer’s angel feathers, something she could not allow to happen.

Chloe sighed once more, then exited the interrogation room. She’d only taken a few steps before Ella popped up out of nowhere.

“Hey, Chloe,” the usually bubbly forensics expert greeted, “How're you doing?”

“Hey, Ella,” Chloe responded with a warm smile, “I’m alright, but there is actually something I need from you.”

“Like you even need to ask!” Ella blurted, immediately launching a hug. For a moment, Chloe just stood awkwardly, her arms trapped under Ella’s. But then, gradually, she melted into the hug. There really was nothing like a Lopez Hug, and Chloe didn’t realize how much she’d needed one.

Finally, the two stepped back from each other. “Thanks,” Chloe sighed.

“Any time,” Ella assured her. “But… is there something else? You have that little furrow going on between your eyebrows.”

“Actually… Yeah. Can I speak to you in private?”

Ella frowned, but nodded. The forensic tech led the way to her lab, and as she shut the door, Chloe looked around at Ella’s collection of little glass vials and varying forensic instruments.

“What’s up?” Ella asked, and Chloe met her gaze.

“I need to ask you for a favor.”

“Yeah, sure, anything!”

The detective pinched her lips together. This was a big ask, and though she knew Ella would undoubtedly agree, Chloe wasn’t so sure it was fair to ask her friend to risk her career. “I need you to lie on the analysis of the feathers. When you write up your report, say they were just down, and don’t test them at all.”

Ella frowned. “I mean, okay. They would probably come back as down anyway, but… I’ll totally do it. Can I just ask why?”

“It’s complicated, and I can’t explain why except that it’s for Lucifer. I promise it’s for a good reason.”

“I trust you. You can count on me.” Ella gave Chloe a kind smile, and the detective couldn’t help but feel a pinch of guilt.

“Thank you, Ella, you’re the best.”

There was a knock at the door, and Dan walked in. “Hey, Chloe. I just wanted to let you know that I went and picked up your cruiser.” He held up the keys, then tossed them to her. “It’s waiting for you in the parking lot. Go home and get some rest. I’ll pick up Trixie for you on my way home.”

Chloe beamed at him. “Thanks.”

“It’s no problem,” he responded with a humble shrug. “How’d the statement go?”

“It went fine,” Chloe assured him. “But I’m tired. I’m gonna go get that rest now. I’ll see you two later?”

Both Dan and Ella nodded at her, and she gave them a friendly wave before ducking out the door. A few minutes later, she was sliding into the driver’s seat of her cruiser.

She sat there quietly for a minute, letting the silence wash over her. Chloe leaned her head against the headrest with her eyes closed. The idea of a nice long nap was certainly appealing, but she had other things to do.

She’d been completely unfair to Lucifer. Chloe had known him for three years now, and though she had been scared, she should have known he was still the Lucifer she knew and trusted. She owed it to him to apologize, to make this all right, and the sooner the better.

With a nervous sigh, Chloe slid the key into the ignition, started the car, and began driving towards Lux.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry if these first two chapters are feeling slow, but I promise things are about to pick up soon. Hopefully my syntax in this chapter wasn't too confusing for anyone. Next chapter coming soon; Hang in there, guys! Also, just a reminder that I don't bite if you want to leave your thoughts on the work so far.
> 
> ♥ Thanks!!


	3. Chapter 3

_Maybe this really was a bad idea?_

In the parking lot for Lux, Chloe impatiently tapped the steering wheel with one finger as she chewed on her bottom lip.

_What if he was angry?_

No, he wouldn't be, not at her. And besides, even if he was, he’d never hurt her…

Right?

Chloe released a breath, finally pulling the key out of the ignition.

No, that wasn’t why she was nervous. She wasn’t worried about herself, she was worried about him. The Valet had been turning people away, and the only reason he had let her through to the parking lot (she refused to give someone else the keys to her cruiser) was because he'd frequently worked the shifts when she visited in the past. The bright neon sign shouting “Lux” had been turned off. As she’d been passing by, Chloe had noticed a significantly shorter line outside the building than usual, and it had appeared that those that _were_ waiting were being asked to leave. All this on a Friday night, usually the busiest night of the week. Lucifer had never closed the bar on a Friday, even when he sat alone for some melancholy drinking.

Chloe forced herself to get out of the car.

With each step towards the building, her heart seemed to speed up, and yet so did her pace. In what felt like moments, she reached the bouncer who was, indeed, turning group after group of prospective partiers away from the notorious club. The beefy man glanced at her once, recognized her as Lucifer’s VIP, and raised a bushy eyebrow as though he was surprised to see any of his employer’s friends. The bouncer stepped away from the entrance and, with a shrug, waved her through.

Chloe gulped and attempted a smile.

It dissolved immediately as she stepped inside.

The club was in complete darkness. She jumped slightly at the sound of the bouncer closing the door behind her. A thick silence fell over the abyss. Chloe fumbled for her phone, and clicked on the flashlight to scan the walls for the light switches. Finally, she found them and flicked them all on.

Chloe slapped a hand to her face to keep from gasping.

If Ella had explained to her that a tornado or a stampede of elephants had charged through Lux, she would have believed the forensic expert in a heartbeat. In fact, she highly doubted anything from the mortal plane had done this to the club- was certain of it.

Just about every piece of furniture was overturned, and several pieces had been smashed against the walls or the floors. The bar was completely devoid of bottles because they had apparently all been consumed or shattered, given the unquantifiable amount of shattered glass littering the floor. One leg of the piano in the center of the room had been snapped in two, and the whole thing was leaning crooked on that broken side; That was in addition to the crack running down the center of the keyboard instrument. The drapes typically hung in parts of the room had been ripped or even pulled down in places. Several of the bulbs on the ceiling were fritzing, giving the dead-silent room an even more eerie feeling.

Chloe took a tentative step forward, glass crackling under her feet. She moved in quiet shock from one end of the room to the elevator, tears welling in her eyes. She’d never seen this level of destruction before, not from him, not in any of the bouts of rage she’d seen before.

It truly hit her then, the magnitude of what she was dealing with. Lucifer was a celestial being created by God Himself, had lived for longer than the universe itself, and possessed immeasurable and unfathomable power. He could undoubtedly wipe her from existence in the blink of the eye if he wanted to.

And yet her feet carried her to the elevator. She pressed the button to go up with quiet determination. A tear slid down her cheek as the doors closed on the chaos of the base level of Lux.

The elevator emitted a cheerful _Ding!_

Chloe drew in a shaky breath.

The doors had opened to a scene not unlike that of downstairs: Shattered glass from countless and apparently drained bottles of alcohol; an overturned piano; toppled bookshelves; a hole blasted in the stone wall.

Chloe stepped out of the elevator, hearing in the silence only the pounding of her heart in her ears. “Lucifer?” she whispered hesitantly.

No response.

“Lucifer?” Chloe repeated with more urgency. “Are you here?”

Silence replied.

She checked every room, called his name in each one, the panic rising in her voice. She checked once, even twice, but the penthouse was empty. In defeat, Chloe sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor through a gaze blurred by tears.

Through her mind played her memories of when he had disappeared to Vegas. He’d disappeared without a trace, left all his furniture covered. But he hadn’t been angry then, not like this. He’d gone to Vegas just when things were starting to make sense between them. It clicked then that he’d done so to protect her, and though she couldn’t put a finger on exactly why, she knew with utmost certainty that he’d left to protect her from himself, because of something to due with his true celestial identity.

And now he’d left because this time he couldn’t protect her. She’d seen the truth and it had scared her - _He’d_ scared her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Chloe shuddered.

Lucifer had disappeared. She needed to find him and apologize, she needed to explain everything.

The detective wiped the tears from her cheeks and pulled out her phone. There was only one person she that could think of who might know where Lucifer had gone: Maze.

* * *

**_23 Hours Prior_ **

That was it.

He’d lost her.

Lucifer was immortal, eons old with infinite time left ahead of him. Pierce’s mocking laughter, the indescribable wrenching in his chest, those thirty seconds he’d watched and seen terror in her eyes- it should, as a result of his relative lifespan, feel like an insignificant blink in time. But it didn’t feel that way, didn’t feel like a dot of despair, the size of a pinprick, on an endless timeline. This was heart-wrenching; flesh-tearing; a barbed crop on bare skin; suffocating; immeasurable and unchanneled rage. This was worse than any of Dear old Dad's plagues and curses. This was the definition of a fate worse than death. He had nothing, had lost everything, and was damned to an eternity of suffering.

This was a fall from Heaven.

He had destroyed everything in his path - his family, his career (undoubtedly, considering everything with Pierce), Maze, Chloe -  and now Lux didn’t stand a chance. When he’d run out of things to shatter and had completely exhausted himself, he collapsed to his knees in the middle of his penthouse. He glared up into the heavens through the sliding glass door that led to the balcony, struggling to take a deep breath as every remaining ounce of defiance drained from his body.

This must have been God’s ultimate plan for him, his greatest manipulation: create someone he could love just to rip it all away from him. He’d put Chloe in his path knowing full well that Lucifer would pour all his care into her, then ultimately self-destruct because of her.

And now Lucifer was tired, had surrendered, had barely enough energy to drink the last bottle of whisky. There was nothing left for him on this plane of existence, and there was no energy left to fight back against his father.

God had won.

“Are you _bloody_ happy!?” Lucifer’s voice cried with a force just shy of earth-shattering. “You’ve taken everything from me. What more could you _possibly_ want!?”

A dot of light - a plane in the distance - blinked lazily across the midnight sky.

God was silent.

“Answer me! You bastard, I said I _give up_!”

Lucifer’s heavy, despairing breathing rattled in his chest.

Still, God was silent.

“Very well…”Lucifer murmured, his eyes twitching as tears fell freely. “I’ll do as you wish. There’s nothing left for me here. I will return to Hell.”

On shaking legs, Lucifer rose to his feet. Silence fell like a heavy blanket - like white sheets draped over furniture before a vacation to Vegas - over every inch of the devastated penthouse. With a grunt of pain, Lucifer opened his bloody wings and stepped out onto the balcony. He took one last lonely glance at his city, a defeated glare at the sky, then slipped into the realm of Hell.

* * *

Maze didn’t pick up. Chloe left a message saying she was sorry for everything, and that Lucifer was missing and would she please call back? She explained that she’d be waiting at Lux for the next few hours.

And then Chloe started cleaning. She didn’t know what else to do with herself. Maybe she could start looking for other leads, act like a detective, but as soon as the thought crossed her mind Chloe reminded herself that this was Lucifer - _the_ Lucifer - and Maze was her best shot at finding him. She decided that she needed to give acquiring Maze’s help a chance.

So she had started cleaning, picking up the shattered remains of the penthouse. She’d hardly made a dent in the disaster, but the distraction was a relief.

“You’re not gonna try’n exorcise me or anything, right? ‘Cause it doesn’t work.”

Chloe paused in the middle of sweeping shards of glass, trying not to visibly startle. Maze stood just outside the elevator door, clad in black leather as usual, her arms crossed and an annoyed grimace chiseled into her pristine features.

The detective leaned her broom against the wall, trying to keep her breathing steady and her heart rate low. “No, of course not,” Chloe answered cautiously, rubbing her hands together as she took a few paces towards Maze.

“Hm. That’s good, I guess.”

“Maze, I’m…” Chloe moistened her lips, momentarily unable to meet Maze’s gaze, “I’m sorry. What happened at-”

“Decker, just tell me what you want?” Maze interrupted.

“Please, I… let me apologize.”

Maze narrowed her eyes, but shrugged.

“I saw… I saw Lucifer’s face. And when I saw you the next morning, I was confused and-and scared and-” she began, and Maze nodded slightly. “I forgot to remember _who_ you were, not… not what. You’re still the Maze I know. The only thing that’s changed is everything about you makes a _hell_ of a lot more sense.” Chloe cringed momentarily at the poor choice of phrasing, but it didn’t seem to bother the demon. “Maze, you’re my family. Trixie loves you, and _I_ love you. I’m sorry.”

The two women stood for some time in silence. Choe’s heart started to thud because what if Maze rejected her apology? What if she’d pushed not just Lucifer away, but Maze, too?

Finally, Maze shrugged. When Chloe met her gaze, she could have sworn her eyes looked glossier than usual. “Whatever. It’s cool,” the demon said dismissively. “So, Lucifer’s missing?”

Chloe released a breath, glad to have Maze back in her life. It would undoubtedly take adjusting, but the detective was willing to work at it. Maze - and Lucifer, for that matter - were more than worth it.

“I came here to find him, and found the place like this instead,” Chloe explained, gesturing around her. “It was worse when I got here.”

“Yeah, I saw downstairs, I know.” Maze started wandering around the penthouse, examining every inch of the main area. Chloe followed around behind her, waiting a few moments before finally needing to speak up again.

“So, where is he?” Chloe asked impatiently.

Maze turned to look at her with a ridiculing sneer. “How would I know? It’s not like I have a GPS tracker on him.”

“Well, yeah, I just thought-”

“I know what you thought. It’s fine.”

“You’ve just known him the longest-”

“Chloe, I know-”

“I mean, I obviously don’t think you have any kind of, like, celestial tracker on him, or even a mortal one. That would be ridiculous.... You don’t, right?”

Maze rolled her eyes. “No. No celestial trackers.”

“Right. That’s what I thought.”

With a humored grin, Maze pulled out her phone, selected a contact, and held the device to her ear.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Chloe asked.

“I’m calling Linda,” Maze answered.

“Linda? No offense, Maze, but I don’t think she’s exactly qualified for this problem.”

Maze raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Trust me, Decker. Linda is the _most_ qualified person to find Lucifer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, things are finally starting to pick up pace! Is it wrong that my best writing describes a the physical and/or emotional suffering of my favorite characters? Nah, probably not. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! More coming soon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, not only do I lack the ability to count the days of the week, but I also lost all sense of time once I'd buried myself in a really good book. So yeah, so sorry this chapter is bit late! I forgot yesterday was a posting day, but by the time I realized it was already super late at night because the book series I'm reading is SO GOOD.
> 
> I'll stop rambling and let you get to it now. This is the last Earth chapter, so yay! Enjoy!

Maze only needed to explain that Lucifer was missing and to meet her and Chloe in the penthouse before Linda was on her way over. The demon had managed to salvage a surviving half-empty bottle of scotch from the wreck. She’d flipped the couch back over and sat there calmly nursing the bottle, expertly twirling a blade in one hand as she watched Chloe continue with her impatient cleaning. Only about half an hour after getting the call, Linda stepped out from the elevator.

“Hey, girls. I’m here,” the therapist greeted. Maze waved a knife, and Linda smiled at her.

“Linda, thanks for coming,” Chloe responded, setting the books she’d picked up back in the now-righted bookshelf.

“Of course. What’s going on?”

“Um,” Chloe began, and Maze raised an amused eyebrow. “Well I’m sure you saw downstairs. Lucifer and I got into a really bad argument, and I haven’t seen him since-”

“She saw his face,” Maze interrupted.

Linda blinked, surprised and gaping momentarily. “Oh... I see,” She murmured, then turned to Chloe. “Are you alright?”

Chloe looked from Maze’s entertained smirk to Linda’s concerned, but otherwise unfazed,  furrowed brow. “Wait you… You _know_?” She asked, a bit bewildered.

“The whole shebang,” Maze chimed.

Linda nodded in agreement. “I found out last year. Chloe, I know we need to find Lucifer right now, but I’d like to talk to you about all this in the future, okay?”

Chloe nodded, still a bit stunned.

“Now. Tell me the whole story.”

Chloe explained everything that had happened in recent events: discovering Pierce’s treachery, the trap he had lain for them, getting shot and then finding herself on the roof, Pierce’s death, seeing Lucifer’s face, then being distantly aware of him leaving, and finally arriving here when she’d come to her senses. It felt a bit like giving her statement to Bromson again, but this time the gaps were filled in and she knew she had no need to bend the truth.

Linda pursed her lips in silent contemplation for a minute or so. “I think…” She started, as though she were reluctant to say the words, “he feels like he’s lost the one thing that matters most to him. He thinks there’s nothing left of him on earth.”

Maze shook her head, the edges of her lips peeling in the beginning of snarl. “No. No way.”

“What? What’s going on?” Chloe asked, deeply troubled.

“You don’t mean-”

“I think he’s in hell,” Linda stated gently.

Maze chucked the scotch bottle she’d been nursing. It shattered to a million pieces against the far wall. Linda found interest in studying the intricacies of the floor, while Chloe’s eyes widened in shock, a sense of dread creeping down her spine. _Hell? Lucifer went back to Hell?_

Maze was on her feet now, twitching from the strain of keeping her temper contained. “He left me here. The _one_ place I wanted to go, he went and didn’t take me.”

 

> _“He won’t take me home”_

She was clenching her hooked knife so tightly that her olive-toned fingers were turning white. Chloe suddenly felt that she might be in danger, but with a glance at Linda, who was sitting in quiet discomfort but without fear, she reaffirmed that Maze would never hurt them. Most likely.

So Lucifer was in Hell. Hell was a place. As in, it was a location that one could go to. Okay, that was… unexpected, but she could work with it.

“I still need to find him. How can I talk to him?” Chloe asked.

“Chloe…” Linda began. “You can’t.”

“Well, why not?”

“Because you’d have to be damned and then die to get there,” Maze barked. “Not gonna happen.”

Chloe’s phone started to ring. She looked back and forth between Maze and Linda, dissatisfied. After two rings, Chloe withdrew her phone and answered it.

“Hey, Chlo,” Dan greeted on the other end. “I picked up Trixie after work, like I said I would. We just got home and you’re not here. Everything alright?”

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah. Thanks, Dan. I’m… I’ll be right there.”

“No rush. I’ll wait with her until you get here.”

“Alright. I’ll see you soon.” Chloe ended the call and sighed.

“Chloe, I know you feel guilty about Lucifer leaving,” Linda said, taking a few steps towards her friend. “You were alarmed and shocked, and given what you experienced, that’s a perfectly natural response. We’ll find a way to get Lucifer back.”

“Thanks, Linda,” Chloe responded, forcing a smile.

“Lucifer can rot in hell for all I care,” Maze snarled.

Both Linda and Chloe looked at her dejectedly.

“Go on,” Linda ushered, “Get back to your daughter. We’ll figure this all out eventually.”

Chloe nodded, scooped up her coat, and turned to the elevator.

 

* * *

 

She couldn’t sleep all night. Her dreams were still plagued by nightmares. Now, however, it was no longer a crimson, raw, fleshy face growling at her from behind darkness and back flames. Instead, it was Lucifer’s face, his hair a bedraggled mess, his eyes glossy and pleading, and his rich voice whispering, “Chloe, please don’t leave me” as he faded into a black abyss.

Chloe woke up in tears. Her chest felt tight and constricted, as though someone had been sitting there all night. Did Lucifer really think she’d abandoned him? Had she? With a resigned sigh, Chloe ran her hands over her face as her mind recalled the events from the previous couple days. Linda had said that, when Chloe had seen his face, Lucifer had felt that he had nothing left for him on Earth. Linda had also said that it wasn’t her fault that she was so alarmed, but wasn’t Lucifer leaving because of her reaction the very _definition_ of her “being at fault?” And now, according to Linda and Maze, there was nothing she could do to fix what had happened.

Chloe forced herself to a seated position and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She frowned at her alarm clock, it’s blocky green letters mocking her with “4:38 AM.” There was no way she was getting back to sleep now, not with the way her mind was still churning. The groggy detective shuffled to the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot. It would take several minutes to brew, so she curled up on the couch to wait and to allow her mind to continue processing all her earth-shattering revelations.

Lucifer had always complained about his father. He’d go on and on about how his father was manipulating him at just about every step of his life. Every word he’d ever said about God had been spiteful. Chloe recalled when she had seen the scars on Lucifer’s back, when he had claimed those scars had been from where he’d cut off his wings. She remembered how sensitive and vulnerable he had been when she’d tried to touch those scars. It was clear to her now why he’d been so infuriated when his wings had returned: they were a physical reminder of his father’s influence.

Chloe was hesitant to judge God - He was _God_ , after all - but she knew Lucifer. God wasn’t there and hadn’t been, but Lucifer _had_ , and she trusted her partner unconditionally. So, if Lucifer claimed God was cold and manipulative, then it stands to reason that He was.

The detective blinked.

God, as in Lucifer’s father. God, the omnipotent, omniscient being that, according to lore and Lucifer himself, ruled the universe. God might be the only way she could reach Lucifer.

Chloe pressed her lips together into a thin frown. She’d never prayed before. Wasn’t there some proper way you were supposed to do it? Then again, Lucifer was _supposed_ to be evil incarnate. Clearly the God-fearing faiths were bound to have made some mistakes.

Chloe slid off the couch and kneeled on her floor, clasping her hands together and pinching her eyes shut. “Um… Hello?” She started, unsure of herself, “Is there anyone up there?”

From her kitchen, the coffee pot gurgled and clicked to signal that it was done brewing.

“Listen, ah… I know you and Lucifer have your issues but… I really need to talk to him. Please?” She paused and strained her ears through the silence. “Can you hear me? Do you even care?”

Suddenly, there was a firm knock on the door. Chloe jumped halfway out of her skin, staring warily at her front entrance. _No way_. Cautiously, the detective rose to her feet, carefully rounded the couch, and approached the door. Heart beating, mind jumping to conclusions, she leaned forward to peer through the peephole.

Amenadiel?

Chloe opened the door, and the man on her porch nodded in greeting. “Hello, Chloe. I’m sorry to bother you so early. I… I hope I didn’t wake you?” He asked, glancing at her pajamas.

Chloe couldn’t help but gape back at him. There was no way that this was coincidental. Amenadiel, Lucifer’s brother, had shown up at her door while she was praying for the first time. And holy crap, Amenadiel and Lucifer being brothers made a _lot_ more sense now - _Literally_ holy, Chloe realized with a start, because if the two were brothers and Lucifer was a fallen angel, then Amenadiel, too, must be angelic.

There was an angel on her porch.

“Amenadiel, hi,” Chloe responded after a brief pause, trying to stay calm. “It’s totally fine. I uh… please, come in.”

She stepped back and opened the door wider to allow Amenadiel to enter, who stepped through with a grateful smile.

“Can I get you some coffee? I just made a pot,” Chloe asked.

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

The detective scurried to the kitchen and started preparing two mugs. How did angels like their coffee? Unsure, she made Amenadiel’s the same way she made her own.

“So, uh… What brings you here?” Chloe asked as she handed the angel his coffee.

He stared for a moment at the murky liquid in his mug. Chloe took an anxious sip from her own. “Chloe, lets not pretend we don’t both know why I’m here,” Amenadiel responded, straight to the point. “I heard your prayers. I know what happened between you and Lucifer.”

Chloe gulped. She’d been praying to God, and yet Amenadiel had heard her prayers. “Are… are you-”

“No, I am not God,” he assured her. Chloe breathed a sigh of… something. Disappointment? Relief?

“Honestly,” Amenadiel continued, “I’m not sure why I heard your prayers. I rarely hear prayers directed to my father. Usually, it’s because He wishes for me to address the issue on His behalf.”

“Oh…” Chloe breathed. She took a long draw from her coffee. The two stood quietly for some time. “So you can bring Lucifer back?”

Amenadiel frowned, and a crease formed between his brows. “I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that.”

“What? Why?” she demanded, forgetting momentarily that she was keeping company with an angel and earning a frustrated sigh from Amenadiel.

“God has wished for Lucifer’s return to Hell for some time now. Now that he is willing to stay, I cannot force him to return to Earth.”

“But he doesn’t _want_ to be in Hell! He’s only there because he thinks I abandoned him!”

“I’m sorry, Chloe.”

She shook her head at him. “No you’re not.”

“I really am. Having spent some time on earth now, having experienced humanity,” he murmured, unable to meet her gaze, “I’m sorry Lucifer felt he needed to leave.”

“So you’re just going to leave him there? He’s your _brother_!”

“I’m sorry, Chloe, but I can’t-”

“No, you _won't_. There’s a difference. You’d rather be your father’s good little boy than give your brother a shot at happiness.”

Amenadiel’s incising, powerful gaze snapped back to her defiant blue eyes. For a moment, Chloe regretted saying what she had, but she stood firm and lifted her chin.

“Lucifer embodies desire and free will,” Amenadiel responded, cool and calculating. “Forcing him back to Earth would betray that free will.”

“Fine. Then take me to him. Take me down to hell,” Chloe demanded.

Amenadiel laughed, a pitying disbelieving chuckle that just made Chloe more resolute. “You can’t be serious. Chloe, I-”

“Can you do it?”

He sighed. “Yes, but-”

“Then do it.”

His smile faded. “Yes, I _technically_ could take you there, but Hell is an infinite labyrinth. Even I do not know my way around. You’d be completely lost down there.”

Chloe gnashed her teeth together, frowning at her coffee. “Then I’ll need a guide.” Amenadiel started muttering something about how she was being irrational, but she had already pulled up Maze’s name in her contacts.

“What d’you want now, Decker?” Maze asked as soon as the line connected.

“I need your help. I know how we can reach Lucifer.”

“Listen, I’m not interested. The douchebag abandoned me.”

Chloe eyed Amenadiel, who was staring at her with narrowed eyes. “How would you like to go back to Hell?” she asked.

“I’d love to, but we’ve already established there’s no way to get there except to die with a  damned soul. Demons don’t have souls, and I’m not letting you die.”

“I found a way to get there without dying.”

On the other end of the line, Maze paused. Chloe smiled, because now she knew the demon was hooked. “I’m listening,” Maze encouraged.

“Amenadiel can take us.”

Immediately, Maze’s laughter rang through the earpiece, and Chloe had to hold it away from her head to keep her ears from bleeding. “Amenadiel would never fly us down to Hell. And even if he _was_ willing, he lost his wings. He’s not going anywhere.”

“He lost his…” Chloe frowned, confused, but shook her head in dismissal. “Nevermind. He says he can do it.”

There was another long pause on the other end of the line.

“Maze?”

“Fine. I’m on my way over.”

The line disconnected. Chloe grinned triumphantly up at Amenadiel, who rolled his eyes.

 

* * *

 

Chloe wasn’t sure how long she was going to be gone for. So, just in case, she called a groggy-sounding Dan and asked him to take Trixie for a few days because she felt like she was “coming down with something and didn’t want Trixie to catch it.” Dan had eagerly agreed, looking forward to some time with his daughter. Chloe said that she would leave Trixie with Amenadiel until he arrived while she went to an early morning doctors appointment. Her ex-husband sounded a bit confused by the times and people involved, but he agreed to the plan nevertheless.

It took an hour for Maze to arrive. The demon walked on into the home with a duffel bag slung over one shoulder.

“What’s all that?” Chloe asked.

“Things I can’t get in Hell. Alcohol, leather… some other things.” She gave her friend a lewd smirk.

“Nevermind. Forget I asked.”

Maze dropped her duffel bag on the ground, raising an eyebrow at Amenadiel. “So, soldier boy got his wings back?”

Amenadiel shuffled his feet, and Chloe started to wonder what kind of relationship the two had. Weren’t angels and demons supposed to be mortal enemies? Yet these two seemed to peacefully coexist, maybe even more despite the tension lingering between them.

“Great. Then let’s get this show on the road,” Maze ushered.

Chloe felt butterflies tumble around in her belly. She needed to take a breather for a minute because - _holy shit!_ \- she was about to get flown down to Hell by an angel and then get a personalized tour of the place by her former roommate, a demon, in search of her best friend and partner, the devil.

“Do I… Do I need anything?” Chloe asked.

“You shouldn’t. It’s not like you’re planning on living there, right?” Maze responded, and Chloe shook her head. “Then you should be fine.”

“Okay. Then let’s go.”

Amenadiel met her gaze. “Chloe, are you absolutely sure about this?”

The detective drew in a deep breath, thought of Lucifer, and nodded. “Yes. One-hundred percent.”

The angel nodded. “Very well. You… might want to stand back.” Chloe did as he asked, and Maze stepped back as well, simultaneously picking up her duffel bag. Amenadiel rolled his shoulders slightly, and suddenly two large grey-black wings filled her home. Chloe gaped at them, her breath catching.

Amenadiel looked at her, concern crossing his features. “Chloe? Are you alright?” He glanced at Maze. “I didn’t break her, right?”

“No, I’m… I’m fine,” Chloe responded in a small voice. “Just a little surprised. And… Lucifer has wings now, right?” She was looking at _angel_ wings. Freaking _angel wings!_ She felt like she’d been dumped into an alternate universe, or someone’s fantasy novel.

“Yes, he does,” Amenadiel replied, trying to hide his amusement. “Are you ready?”

Chloe nodded, gulping back every remaining ounce of inhibition, and stepped towards the angel with Maze right beside her. Amenadiel slid an arm around each of their waists and shrugged. “Here we go.”

Out of the corner of her eyes, Chloe saw Amenadiel’s wings shift slightly. She felt a lurching, stomach-dropping weightlessness, the feeling of being catapulted, and then, in an instant, she was blinking to adjust to sudden darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is on the shorter side, so sorry about that. It's mostly about Chloe's first impressions about Hell, a few details about Lucifer making more sense, and a LOT of weird humor between Maze and Chloe. I'm not kidding when I say it's weird, but it made me laugh when I wrote it so it remained even after the editing phase. An itty bitty warning for some weird humor born out of me not taking myself seriously. Enjoy!

A few years back, Dan had taken Chloe out on a date to a famed amusement park. There had been this one ride which, after extensive begging on Dan's part, Chloe had finally agreed to go on. She hadn’t been scared so much as uninterested, and it was the only ride they hadn’t gone on yet. She’d been tired and her feet were sore and she knew she was going to have a cramp in her neck from all the jarring stops, starts, and jolts of all the rides they had already ridden. Even though she had been otherwise enjoying herself and her time with Dan, Chloe had been pretty much done with rides for the day. Plus, this last ride was professed to be the largest and most exhilarating ride in the park. Somehow Dan convinced her to go despite her reluctance.

In any movie with a roller coaster in it, there’s a scene where the car at the beginning of the ride goes up and up and up, and then plummets practically straight down. The audience can virtually feel for themselves the absolute stomach-dropping sensation that the characters must be experiencing.

That movie-style roller coaster ride was precisely what Chloe experienced on the ride with Dan.

And apparently, it was also similar to hitching a ride from an angel.

The “up and up” feeling was more the sensation of her mind trying to rationalize the completely nonsensical thing that was happening to her. Chloe had the distinct impression that she was being catapulted through both space and time, and her mind felt as though it were floating above her trying to remember how to come back down from such overstimulation. And then all at once she felt as though she were free-falling, straight down at unfathomable speeds. Somehow she hit the ground with two feet, uninjured, though completely disoriented.

Chloe’s legs felt like jelly, and Amenadiel helped keep her upright as she blinked rapidly to adjust to the sudden change. Even Maze, Chloe noticed, briefly looked a bit dizzy, and she knew that the demon had been flown by an angel at least once. The demon blink once, twice, then stepped out of Amenadiel’s grip, looking now completely unfazed.

Eventually Chloe remembered how to stand, and she gently stepped away from the angel. Something still seemed off with her vision, and she squinted to see through the distortion. It was as though she were looking through a complex, spiraling prism.

“It’s not you,” Maze explained; she must have noticed Chloe’s confused blinking. “Both time and physics work slightly differently in this dimension. It’ll take a minute for you to adjust.”

Chloe nodded faintly, trying to put on a strong front and not vomit as her vision kept swarming. “Time works differently how exactly?”

“A year in hell approximates a second on earth,” Amenadiel explained.

“Oh.” She wasn’t going to bother asking about the physics of Hell. Actually, that whole thing with time might work out in her favor. After all, Chloe couldn’t imagine it would take long to find Lucifer and convince him to come back. When they returned to earth, it would be as though she’d never left

“I’ll return to Trixie now, through I can’t imagine you’d be gone long enough to necessitate me being there. Lucifer should be able to return you to Earth. If for whatever reason he won’t return, you merely need to pray for me.”

Chloe didn’t miss his use of _won’t_ as opposed to _can’t_.

“Thank you, Amenadiel,” Chloe responded.

The angel then looked to Maze. “Keep her safe.”

“Of course I will,” she snapped. Angel and demon held each other's gaze for a few moments, and again Chloe found herself wondering what silent conversation they were sharing.

“Good luck,” Amenadiel said to Chloe, who gave him a grateful smile. With a final, reluctant glance between the two women, the angel opened his wings back up and then disappeared.

Chloe released a breath, finally looking around. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the prism-effect, and now everything looked at least somewhat normal. There was still a dark hue she was seeing, but she assumed the darkness was more to do with, in her limited understanding, the absence of a sun. On either side of her stood tall, pleated stone walls forming a long hallway, walls which rose so high they disappeared into darkness. Did they go on forever? She had no idea. What Chloe found most fascinating was that there seemed to be an absence of fire. She could smell faint traces of smoke, but there wasn’t a flame in sight. The only indication that there might be raging fires somewhere in Hell was the flakes of ash in her hair and the thick layer of ash underfoot. It wasn’t even that hot! Barely ninety-five degrees, if she had to guess; around an average summer day in LA.

“C’mon, we should get moving,” Maze said, drawing Chloe out of her observation. The demon was looking at her with an expression of mild curiosity, as though she were wondering whether or not the young human would run screaming.

Chloe met Maze’s gaze, nodding curtly. Maze hefted her duffel bag higher on her shoulder, then started marching in one direction.

Barely a minute later, the two passed a metal door. The doors became more frequent as they continued on, some of them boarded up or strung with chains. Chloe jumped when something pounded on one of the doors, a sudden metallic thumping followed subsequently by a pitiful wailing. She had an idea of what might be behind the doors, but she had to ask anyway.

“What’s behind them?”

Maze briefly glanced back over her shoulder, turning right and checking again to make sure Chloe was following. “Hell loops. Every soul damned to Hell has one.”

“Hell… loops?”

Maze nodded. “Souls relive the moments they feel the most guilty for over and over again. Each Hell loop is kinda like a personalized pocket-dimension of endless suffering.”

A shriek of pain and fear from behind one of those doors sent a chill of horror down Chloe’s spine.

They walked on for another two hours or so. Maze was starting to look frustrated, and Chloe was starting to become concerned. Wasn’t Hell supposed to be endless? So wouldn’t that mean that, theoretically, it could take an infinite amount of time for them to find Lucifer? Plus, she had no idea how time would affect her in Hell. She wasn’t immortal like Lucifer and Maze. So would she age based off Earth’s time or Hell’s? Was time in Hell really such a profound ratio, or did it just _feel_ like a second on earth was a year in Hell?

Chloe’s head was starting to hurt. “Maze, I trust you know where you’re going, but… well, where are we going?”

Maze stopped suddenly in front of a fork in the path and looked back at her companion, studied her, deep in thought. Chloe squirmed under her gaze. Then, without explanation, Maze jerked her head down a particular path of the fork.

“Maze, now where are we going?” She had the impression the demon had changed directions for whatever reason.

“I’m taking you somewhere safe,” Maze responded dismissively. “

“I’m fine! I may be new to all this, but I can handle myself.”

Maze scoffed and stopped again, turning all the way around to meet Chloe’s defiant blue eyes. “You’re the first living human to _ever_ be in Hell. And, _God_ , I-” Maze inhaled deeply, her brown eyes flashing hungrily over Chloe. Then the demon shook her head as though to clear it. “I can _smell_ the guilt on you.”

Chloe gulped.

“Souls bound to hell, they’re here because of severe guilt, and usually it’s only over one main thing. But with you…” Maze bit her lip. “Every single thing you’ve ever felt guilty for is practically _radiating_ off of you. Saying something without thinking, bumping into someone in the hallway, running late to a party- Anything you’ve ever felt guilty for, regardless of how small or not... the demons will be able to smell it.”

Chloe took a few calming breaths and tried to reassure herself that, no, Maze was _not_ going to eat her. “Okay. But what about you? What about Lucifer?”

Maze waved a dismissive hand and started walking again. “I’ll be faster on my own, anyway, without needing to make sure you didn’t get lost or something. I’ll bring Lucifer back to you, then you two can fly on back to Earth.”

That seemed like as good a plan as any.

 

* * *

 

They walked for what Chloe judged to be approximately another hour. Gradually, the doors they passed became less frequent, larger, and more secured. _The High Priority wing of Hell?_ Chloe presumed. Eventually they stopped seeing doors altogether for about the last ten minutes of walking until, finally, the two reached the end of the pathway.

A tall and wide metal door sat leaning against the stone walls, completely detached from its hinges. Thick chains draped around a doorframe leading into complete and utter darkness.

“What is this place?” Chloe asked.

Maze dropped her duffel bag and shook the ash out of her hair. “This was where Lucifer kept his mom.”

“Lucifer’s… mom. Right.” Puzzle pieces clicked into place. “So Charlotte wasn’t his stepmother, she really _was_ his mother?”

“What? No! No, Charlotte was just _possessed_ by his mom.”

Chloe gaped as more pieces clicked; Charlotte’s sudden behavior changes, the quip about her going to hell, the strange relationship that she and Lucifer had always had. It even gave perspective on his confusion when she had claimed Charlotte had explained their relationship to her.

“He… Told me she was his stepmom,” Chloe complained, furrowing her brow.

“Lucifer doesn’t lie,” Maze corrected, “He probably let you believe that, but he _never_ lies.”

Maze was right. There was that twinge of guilt again, that pinching reminder that he’d _tried_ to explain everything to her, had always been honest about his identity, and yet she had refused to believe him. It was fair that he eventually gave up pushing her towards the truth. He had no way of knowing what her reaction would be. And apparently, Lucifer’s fears had been justified by Chloe’s reaction to the truth.

“Oh, man!” Chloe looked up to see Maze pinching her nose. “Whatever guilty thing you’re thinking about, stop. You’re lucky I like you because that is _potent_.”

“Sorry,” Chloe said, wincing. She really was lucky to have Maze as a friend because, as far as she could tell, any other demon would have eaten her by now. Or something.

“Okay, stay here,” Maze instructed. “If you’re just going to sit here feeling sorry for yourself, maybe roll in the ash or something, cover the scent up as best you can.”

“Uh... okay…”

“And seriously, don’t go wandering off. _Especially_ don’t go through any of those doors. Got it?”

Chloe nodded. “Got it.”

Maze looked her over, furrowing her brow like she was reluctant to leave. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Good luck, Maze.”

They exchanged brief smiles, then Maze turned back the way they’d come and disappeared into the hazy gloom. Chloe, ever so reluctantly, lowered herself to the ashen ground and rolled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for another late post. My excuse this time is that I had a band concert yesterday, but - hey! - I nailed my solo!!
> 
> Anyway, I'm so excited for this chapter, and hopefully it will make up for being a bit late. Chloe finally sees Lucifer again! This is absolutely my favorite chapter, and I hope you guys feel the same. I recommend taking your time with it and that you don't skim, because it can get kind of confusing.
> 
> A bit of a warning that this is where the tag for "Graphic Depictions of Violence" comes in. It's really not bad, but I figured I'd warn you just in case. Also, prepare for a mini cliffhanger. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Chloe had stopped trying to keep track of the hours. It must have been at least several that had slipped by, especially after the nap she’d taken. Briefly she considered exploring not-Charlotte’s (what was she supposed to call Lucifer’s mom? Goddess? That seemed right) Hell loop. She quickly thought better of the idea, given that it would technically be breaking Maze’s rule of going through doors. Plus, she had a feeling that whatever loop the _Goddess_ had been through would be all kinds of crazy. The higher the priority of the prisoner, the worse the punishment must be, right? And this was _God’s Wife_ she was thinking about. Whatever she had done must have been pretty bad.

Chloe shuddered. No wonder Lucifer was so defensive when it came to his family; it sucked.

She sat on the ground and drew nonsensical patterns in the ash with what she hoped was a random stick and not some unknown creature’s bone.

A sudden voice slipped by her ear.

Chloe looked up with a jolt. She could have sworn she’d imagined it but…

The voice - a deep, silken, familiar voice - repeated itself. No, she hadn’t imagined it.

“Hello?” Chloe called, rising cautiously to her feet.

 _“Detective?”_ It was barely a whisper, but it was definitely him. It was Lucifer.

She hurried down the corridor, following his voice as it weaved down various paths.

 _“Chloe, please!”_ He sounded nervous, almost alarmed.

She stopped in front of a metallic door she was certain his voice had come from. “Lucifer?” Chloe asked gently, and hearing no reply, she pushed the door open.

Immediately she was engulfed by darkness, and the door disappeared behind her. Chloe cast her gaze around her as, slowly, the darkness dissolved to reveal a familiar scene.

It was the room where she’d last seen him - where she’d _finally_ seen him for the first time. Pierce’s body was absent, but she and Lucifer were not. And…

Another Chloe?

 _“Chloe, please,”_ Lucifer repeated, but he was speaking to the Other.

The Other shook her head, backing away and raising a hand in warning. _“No. Don’t.”_

_“Please, I can-”_

_“Stay_ away _from me.”_ There was absolute defiance in the Other’s eyes, a feral and teary-eyed ferocity that warned she had been backed into a corner.

 _“Very well…”_ Lucifer responded, small and defeated.

“No, Lucifer!” Chloe pleaded, stepping forward. “I’m right here! Don’t leave!”

But it was too late. Lucifer stretched his arms out to either side, closed his eyes, fell backwards, and disappeared through the floor.

“No!” Chloe yelped, lurching forward and staring at where he’d just been.

 _“Lucifer?”_ Chloe looked up, and the Other was gazing straight ahead again, perplexed and concerned.

 _“Detective?”_ Her head swiveled around, and there was Lucifer yet again, staring back at the Other with equal worry.

“No, no, no, no _no_ !” Chloe cried, her covering her mouth with her hands. This was _not_ happening, not to her, not to _him_.

“Detective?” It wasn’t Lucifer, not the one she was looking at. This voice came from behind her.

Chloe whipped around and gasped.

Lucifer. It was really Lucifer. He was looking at her with such desperate concern, and now she was practically trembling. Chloe glanced behind her and blinked at where the now-vanished “other” her and Lucifer had been.

“Detective, what are you…”

Chloe turned back to look at him, tears falling freely from her eyes. “Lucifer, you need to snap out of it,” she blurted.

Lucifer blinked at her. “I… what?”

“You’re in a Hell loop.”

That just seemed to confuse him even more. She could see the gears churning in his mind, trying to figure out not only how - _why_ \- she was here, but also how she could possibly know about Hell loops in the first place. “Chloe-”

“Lucifer, _please!”_

There were tears in his eyes. Oh, God, he must not know what she was saying. Couldn’t he hear her?

“Lucifer?”

“I’m not in a Hell loop, Chloe,” he said delicately, tears rolling down his cheeks, “You are.”

“I…” was what she tried to say, but all that came out was _“Stay away from me.”_

He gulped looking like he wanted to reach out to touch her, but held fixed in one place.

“I’m sorry!” but her lips said _“I never want to see you again.”_

She shook her head, tried in vain to lean towards him but was held immobile by an invisible force. He gave her a look that said he knew she didn’t mean what she was saying.

“Chloe, you need to break the loop.”

_“You’re a monster.”_

“It’s okay-”

_“Go back to Hell!”_

“I don’t blame you. For anything-”

_“I wish I’d never met you!”_

“It’s not your fault-”

_“GO! AWAY!”_

“It’s mine.”

In an instant, Chloe’s jaw was suddenly moving on its own accord. “Lucifer…”

But he wasn’t looking at her anymore. He was looking past her, through her, because the Other her had reappeared.

Chloe looked behind her, shook her head violently. “No, no, _Lucifer_ , please!”

She turned back around and narrowly suppressed her instinct to vomit.

Strapped to a table lay a gagged, screaming, faceless mess of a human with cuts and bruises scoring every inch of it’s skin. Standing over the bloody heap, on side of the table opposite Chloe, stood Lucifer.

Chloe wailed into her hand.

The Other echoed her cry.

Lucifer raised his hand, clenching a crimson-drenched blade. With a tormented expression of fear and rage, he dragged the blade down the unidentifiable human’s face as he and his victim emitted equally pained screams.

 _“I wish I’d never met you!”_ The Other her taunted.

Lucifer, a blubbering mess, pressed his knife down on one of the human’s fingers, see-sawed the blade back and forth, and yelped as the digit was severed.

“Lucifer, please, don’t do this to yourself!” Chloe begged, unheard over the cacophony of pained screams and venomous shouts of _“You deserve to be alone!”_

He reached down to where a glowing-red branding iron had appeared. The human on the table squirmed. Lucifer looked strained, as though he were trying with every ounce of his effort to resist his steadily-raising arm.

He pressed the branding iron into the human’s side.

Sickening, blood-chilling cries echoed through darkness. The human’s skin sizzled. The stench of seared flesh wafted into Chloe’s nostrils, and she gagged.

_“You’re a monster!”_

“LUCIFER, STOP!”

His tear-filled eyes finally flicked up to her. He was panting, unable to breathe steadily. The branding iron clattered on the floor.

“Stop this,” she pleaded, her voice small and broken. Lucifer swayed on his feet, and she feared he might collapse. “You’re not a monster. I don’t blame you, so stop blaming yourself. The only way you’re hurting me is by hurting yourself.

He blinked numbly down at the heap on his table.

“Lucifer…”

His gaze lifted slowly back to hers.

“Lucifer, come back to me.”

He exhaled sharply, looking faint but the spell was clearly broken. The being on the table and the Other Chloe dissolved back into non-existence, leaving only blood and tears.

“Chloe…” He murmured.

Chloe nodded at him, smiling bitter-sweetly as tears of relief slid mercilessly down her cheeks.

They moved towards each other and fell into an embrace. They stood immobile for some time, clinging to each other, sniffling on the other’s shoulder.

“How?” Lucifer whispered.

“Maze, and Amenadiel,” Chloe explained briefly.

Lucifer chuckled into her shoulder. “My brother? Dad’s perfect soldier flew you down to Hell?”

She smiled. “He needed some convincing, but yeah. He did.”

In synchronization, the two stepped away from one another, wiping tears from their eyes.

“Come on,” Lucifer instructed, nodding towards a miraculously-formed door, “Let’s get out of here.”

Chloe smiled at him in agreement, and let him lead the way towards the door. As they exited, the blood that had come to stain both their clothes disappeared.

“Maze said to wait for her outside of your mom’s old loop.. place… thing…”

Lucifer looked down at her, furrowing his brow. “She left you alone?” He demanded, annoyance crossing his features.

“She went to look for you. Said something about me being safer where the demons couldn’t find me.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I suppose they wouldn’t quite know what to do with you.”

Chloe shrugged in agreement.

They started walking back towards Not-Charlotte’s hell loop, Lucifer leading the way since Chloe had forgotten how she’d ended up from where they’d come in the first place. A strained silence stretched between them for some time.

“Lucifer, about what happened back there-”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” he interrupted sheepishly.

Chloe pressed her lips into a line but nodded in acknowledgement. She cast her gaze around, taking in the hot, pressing darkness of Hell and couldn’t help but be reminded that this was where Lucifer had spent _eons_ . She glanced at Lucifer as he swept a flake of ash off his shoulder with a sneer of annoyance. _Eons_ spent mostly alone, spending all that time doing… exactly what he’d been doing back there.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at Chloe, having caught her staring. “What?” he asked with amusement.

Chloe shrugged. “Just… thinking. About this place.”

He inhaled deeply and slowly, looking around at the stone walls and ashen floors and enveloping darkness. “Ah. I see.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lucifer’s burdened gaze snapped back to her. “Detective-”

“I know, I just…” she couldn’t meet those searching black-brown eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“You have no need to apologize.”

“Maybe you’re right, but… I want to.” She found the courage to look back up at him. He gave her a warm, compassionate smile that spoke volumes.

“Of course I forgive you.”

“Lucifer!” came Maze’s voice suddenly. Both Chloe and Lucifer turned around in surprise as the demon jogged up to them. _She doesn’t even look out of breath, and she’s probably been running for miles!_ Chloe thought enviously.

“Hey, you found him, Decker!” Maze praised.

“Actually, _I_ found _her_ ,” Lucifer corrected.

“Yeah, well,” the demon grumbled, “she should have stayed put like I told her.”

“Thanks, Maze,” Chloe chimed sarcastically. The demon ignored her.

“Lucifer, we have a problem,” Maze began.

“What, miss sex already?”

“No, this is serious!” she urged, and Chloe was alarmed to see genuine panic crossing the demon’s face. “Pierce escaped his loop.”

Lucifer’ expression immediately shifted. “That’s not possible.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Maze snapped.

Lucifer’s nostrils flared, and he slammed his fist into Hell’s stone walls.

Things had just become significantly more complicated.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm.... oops. Sorry. My excuse this time is the SAT. Heh
> 
> I took a LOT of creative license with this chapter. Part of the reason I wanted to write this fic in the first place was because I wanted to explore Hell more, and so I decided to give the place my own idea of how it might be organized. It would be so fun to go more in-depth into this universe. So anyway, that's kind of all this chapter is: setting up the 'government' and setting of the next few chapters.
> 
> Tell me what you think! What do you guys imagine the show's version of Hell might be like?

Lucifer flew Chloe and Maze to the section of Hell where Pierce’s loop was because apparently hitching a ride with an angel was something the human did now. Once they’d landed, Maze ran on ahead to get a jump-start on tracking Pierce, while Chloe and Lucifer followed not far behind to check for clues along the way.

As they walked, Chloe couldn’t help but notice the more rustic feeling to this section of Hell. The doors they past had more antique design. The ash underfoot was obviously thicker, indicated by the few inches of the grey powder that had piled up against the doors. Even the stone walls were crumbling and had paler hue than the areas she’d previously been. It made sense, of course, that Cain’s Hell loop would be located in an older sector of Hell; He was one of the earliest humans, after all. 

“Why wasn’t your mom kept down here?” Chloe asked suddenly. “I mean, wouldn’t she be in one of these older loops?”

Lucifer blinked, surprised she noticed. “Well, my mother remained in Heaven for a long time after humanity was created.”

That seemed like a logical answer. “Then why… was she banished? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“You can think of it as a divorce, I suppose,” he responded with a shrug. “She started poking around at Dad’s favorite project with floods and plagues, so he threw her out of the house.” He raised an eyebrow at her when Chloe’s expression suddenly twisted into revulsion. “What?”

“Just… Dan. I mean, it was weird enough when I thought he was dating your _step_ mom but-”

“Yes, for a time he was unknowingly dating the Mother of Angels and the Universe.”

“Wow.”

Lucifer nodded, amused. They walked on as Chloe continued to process this information. When she glanced back up at Lucifer, his expression had returned to being cold, frustrated, and determined, and she had to shake off a nervous chill that traced her spine.

They stopped abruptly in front of an opened Hell loop door. There was no question as to who’s it was, and Lucifer clenched his jaw, glaring into the dark opening as though he could will Pierce’s return with thought alone.

Chloe pried her eyes away from the gaping void and from Lucifer, his lip and eyes twitching from barely-restrained anger, and her gaze quickly landed on a still heap. Propped up against the stone wall opposite Pierce’s Hell loop was an immobile body

“Lucifer?” the detective said cautiously, crossing over to the body Lucifer’s trance dissipated. He followed Chloe more slowly as she began examining the corpse.

“He’s a demon, right?” Chloe checked, noting the otherworldly garments the man was wearing. Lucifer nodded, and out of the corner of her eye, the detective saw him clench his fists.

The demon hosted pale skin and sightless blue eyes that stared straight ahead, his expression locked in a perpetual state of anger and denial. His hair was shaved on one side to reveal intricate and abstract black tattoos, while his remaining hair fell in tight dreadlocks. A knife protruded from his abdomen, likely the same knife missing from the empty holster strapped to his hip.

“Who was this guy?” Chloe asked, shaking her head at the body. “The guard?

“Likely the demon on rotation,” Lucifer explained, “Demons take turns in each of the various wings of Hell. Maze is one of the few exceptions; she specializes in higher priority souls.”

The two turned at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. Lucifer raised inquisitive eyebrows as Maze approached, but the demon shook her head apologetically

“I lost the trail,” Maze admitted, looking frustrated.

“You  _ lost _ it?”

“He jumped into someone else’s loop, and is somehow finding the backdoor passages to adjacent ones,” the demon snapped defensively. “When the loops reset, all traces of him being there disappear.”

Lucifer’s nostrils flared, and Maze met his gaze with equal intensity. Finally, he released an aggravated sigh in defeat. Carefully, forcing his temper to soften, he turned to Chloe. “Call Amenadiel and have him take you back to Earth,” he instructed.”

“Lucifer, I-”

“I can’t keep you safe here - not with Pierce on the loose - and I can’t spare even a second on Earth to take you back myself.”

Chloe shook her head at him. “No, Lucifer. I’m staying here.”

“Detective,  _ please _ . I need you safe while I return Pierce to his cage, then I’ll return to Earth with you. It would be far less than a second for you!”

“I’m not going without you. I’m not leaving you again.”

Lucifer gnashed his teeth, studying her quiet defiance with his own concerned frown. After a few moments of hesitation, he finally released a breath. “Very well,” he conceded, because he was the embodiment of free will and who would he be to deny that of Chloe? “We’ll take you somewhere safer, then.”

Chloe’s lip curled. “We’re not going back to your mom’s loop, are we?” she asked reluctantly. If it was necessary, she’d go back, but it was uncomfortable and lonely and agony still hung heavy in the air there. She’d prefer to avoid the place if possible.

Lucifer relaxed enough to give her a familiar, charismatic smirk. “Of course not,” he assured her, “We’re going somewhere far less drab.”

 

* * *

 

Hitching rides from angels. Yeah, that was never going to not be weird. On the bright side, she recovered from the complete disorientation much faster than she had the first and second time.

Chloe expressed a nauseated sigh as she glanced around at the new surroundings. The temperature had suddenly jumped up four or five degrees, and she could have sworn the flakes of ash falling from the sky had become more dense. Her gaze traveled ahead, following the winding path that lead from them up a steep hill to a large, shadowy, brick building perched on top of a cliff-sided mountain that jutted out over an red-black abyss. Was that… was that a castle? Well, yeah, of course it was. Her best friend was the  _ king _ of Hell, after all, so why would it surprise her that he’d live in a castle? His penthouse practically was one, anyway. Chloe wiped her brow with her wrist, the sudden temperature change causing her to persperate uncomfortably.

“We’re simply closer to the Hell Fires,” Lucifer explained nonchalantly, “It will be cooler inside.”

Right. Hell Fires as in the eternal raging flames of Hell. Of course.

“Personally, I don’t mind the heat,” Maze commented.

“Considering those the fires were the womb you were forged in, that’s hardly surprising,” Lucifer quipped.

“Bite me.”

“It is tempting.”

Chloe rolled her eyes at the two. 

“Well, come on, then,” Lucifer urged, jerking his head towards the… er…  _ castle _ . “Let’s get a move on.”

Chloe and Maze followed Lucifer up the hill towards the building looming in the distance. About halfway up the hill, either side of the path became a steep drop-off down to Lucifer-knows-where. She didn’t even want to risk peeking over the edge.

“I didn’t expect to ever see you again,” Lucifer suddenly murmured from beside her. Chloe glanced up from watching her feet. Maze had wandered on ahead, probably excited to be home again. Something pinched in Chloe, a sadness that Maze felt more at home in Hell than on Earth with her newfound family. Chloe stored the thought away to be addressed at a later date.

“I know,” Chloe responded after a brief pause, “I’m sorry.”

“I’ve already said, you needn’t apologize.”

Chloe pressed her lips together. “Maze told me about the time difference- how a second is equal to a year?” Beside her, Lucifer nodded thoughtfully “Lucifer, it was over two days on Earth….”

Neither spoke for a few moments. Lucifer remained quiet, his jaw set as he gaze forward, unable to meet her pleading, apologetic gaze.

“Lucifer,” Chloe said quietly, tugging on his sleeve as they continued to walk slowly up the hill. He finally looked down at her, tears beading against his lower eyelid. “How long has it been?”

He swallowed and drew in a shaky breath. “Nearly two hundred thousand years.”

Chloe bit her lip to keep from breaking into sobs. Lucifer gave her a helpless smile.

“It’s alright, Detective. You needed time to adjust. Besides, it’s hardly a blink in my lifetime.” He barely sounded convinced of it himself. 

They’d reached the entrance to the castle. Maze stood in front of the great, towering double doors, a hand resting one of the door knobs. She glanced between Lucifer and Chloe, but said nothing of their puffy, reddened eyes recently wiped of tears. Maze yanked the doorknob firmly and the door opened with a groan. A flood of refreshing cool air washed over them. Wordlessly, the three stepped in, and the door creaked closed behind them.

It was darker inside, and Chloe blinked as her eyes adjusted. It was a comfortable darkness, though, not like the agonizing void outside. The walls were dark stone made of a composite she’d never seen before, while the floors were some kind of paler tile. Several enormous tapestries hung from the walls, all looking ancient and from various empires throughout history. Placed on pedestals spaced incrementally against the walls were various artifacts. Placed against the far wall was a large throne seated on a two-step podium.

“Wow…” Chloe breathed, looking about the place. “You live here?”

Lucifer shrugged. “I don’t get to spend much time here, actually. I’m typically… busy.”

Chloe nodded wordlessly, knowing what that meant and reluctant to think about it.

Suddenly, hurried pair of footsteps could be heard approaching, clicking on the stone floor. Chloe stood quietly by Lucifer’s side, who seemed patient and unconcerned by the approaching visitor.

A somewhat heavy-set man with round glasses and butler-looking clothes appeared around the corner of a nearby hallway that Chloe hadn't noticed.

“Lucifer, it's good you’re back. I-” He stopped in his tracks, blinking in surprise at the sight of Lucifer’s two companions. His eyes settled on Maze first, and his expression quickly became one of fear, as though he were expecting Maze to lash out at him. “Mazikeen, hello,” the man greeted awkwardly, “It has been a long time.”

“Mofran, good to see you,” Maze responded with a nod of greeting. The man, Mofran, raised his eyebrows in surprise, clearly not expecting such a civil greeting.  _ Maze must have been really intense before Earth _ , Chloe thought.  _ Well, way more so than she already is. _

“And you…” Mofran continued in his greeting, turning his gaze to Chloe, who smiled and waved politely. His brows furrowed, and he turned his head at her. “You’re… human. And-” his eyes opened wider in surprise “-you’re alive.”

“Mofran, this is Detective Chloe Decker,” Lucifer said. Mofran peeled his gaze away from Chloe and back up at Lucifer. “She’s a friend of ours, and our guest. I expect her to receive great hospitality.”

“Right, of course,” Mofran responded, gently extending a hand to Chloe. “I’m sorry for my manners, I’ve just never met a living human.” He gazed at her in fascination as Chloe respectfully shook his hand, squirming slightly under his curious gaze. She knew it was nothing personal; It was just… awkward. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chloe.”

“Likewise.”

“Mofran is sort of like our head of PR,” Lucifer explained. “He helps with demon organization and the likes.”

Chloe smiled and couldn’t hide a small chuckle. “Sorry, it’s just… a demon working PR. I didn’t expect that.”

Mofran raised his chin indignantly. “Us higher ranking demons all have a defined skill set. Some of us are particularly skilled in torture-” he gestured to Maze “- while some of us are better at other things. I so happen to be great at organizing the demons and quelling their disputes- and they do quarrel a lot.”

“Chill, dude. We all know you’re good at your job,” Maze butt in, giving him a firm but friendly punch on the shoulder as she walked past. Mofran flinched, staring at her wide-eyed, and then glanced between her and Lucifer in astonishment. “I’m gonna go check on my other Hell-forged knives,” Maze called over her shoulder, “come get me when you need me.”

“She’s… different,” Mofran remarked as Maze disappeared down the hallway.

Lucifer smirked at him. “She got a taste of humanity is all, but she’s still the same high-tempered Maze. You’d best watch your back.”

“Right…” Mofran responded, absentmindedly rubbing his shoulder.

“What was it you wanted to tell me, Mofran?”

“The Council called to convene.”

Lucifer sighed. “They always want to convene.”

“Yes, well… They’ll be here later today.”

“Very well. Mofran, will you please set Chloe up in a room?”

“Of course.” The demon smiled at Chloe. “Follow me.”

Chloe cast a wary glance in Lucifer’s direction, reluctant to follow the new acquaintance.

“You’ll be fine,” Lucifer assured her. “You can trust Mofran.”

Lucifer never lied, so if he said she’d be safe with Mofran, then odds were it was the truth. She and the devil shared warm smiles before she turned and followed Mofran down the hallway to her room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a bit more insight to the 'world' of Hell as it exists in this universe. This chapter will also introduce two more original characters. Then we get a little bit of fluff, so yay! What do you think of Chloe and Lucifer's decisions in this chapter? =)

Mofran eyed Chloe warily the whole way there. She knew it was utter curiosity, and she knew Lucifer trusted him, but she couldn’t help replaying the warning Maze had given her about the scent of guilt. Maybe her “scent” wasn’t so bad now? After all, she’d been in Hell for nearly a day now,  _ and _ she’d managed to crawl out of her own Hell loop. So, maybe her guilt wasn’t as intense as it had been? That, or she was lucky to have another demon that could control their urges to… she didn’t even want to think about what an untethered demon might do to her.

After helping Chloe get settled, Mofran had hurried back the way they’d come.

The room was cozy, in it’s own way. There was an old twin-sized bed, a bedside drawer, and a small window with dark drapes hanging on an antique style curtain rod. There wasn’t anything downright eerie about the room, but it was just… slightly unsettling. Maybe it was the seemingly inherent darkness filling the room and everywhere else in the castle, or maybe the small window she knew, without needing to look, offered a bird’s-eye view of Hell acting as a frightening reminder of where she really was. 

Yeah, it was probably the window.

Chloe closed the drapes with a shudder on her way out of the room.

She carefully retraced her steps and found herself back in the throne room.  _ Ha, throne room, _ Chloe thought,  _ I’m in the King of Hell’s throne room! _ Chloe rolled her eyes at herself. God, she was like a teenage boy who’d just discovered Pornhub! 

Okay, so, where was everyone? Mofran had said something about a Council and a meeting. Well where would a group of high-ranking demons and their devilish leader gather for a meeting to discuss Hell-knows what? Probably a conference room or a meeting hall or something? Yeah, better go with that. And that would likely be near the throne room, wouldn’t it? That seemed like as good a guess as any.

Chloe checked the other sides of the throne room for doors or hallways, and found another hallway directly across from the first. She’d only walked a few steps down the hall when she started to hear muffled voices coming from behind a closed door up ahead on the left.

“Lucifer, we really don’t have the time to-”

“Nonsense! It’s something I learned during my time on Earth. It’ll take but a moment to explain. See, what you do is you take a jar of mayonnaise and a ream of paper, and-”

Chloe knocked gently on the door.

“Ah, come on in, Detective!” Lucifer called.

She entered slowly, peering around the edge of the door as it swung open. At the head of a long table sat Lucifer, beaming and sitting back in his chair. To his immediate left sat Maze with her feet propped up on the table, and on his right sat Mofran. Two other demons - a man and a woman - were present, neither of whom Chloe recognized. Their eyes, fixed on Chloe as she entered the room and shut the door behind, remained perplexed and curious. 

“Come on, don’t be shy!” Lucifer coaxed, standing and gesturing for her to come to his side.

“Who is this?” The unfamiliar male demon demanded. He was gruff and stocky - some kind of soldier probably.

The female demon tilted her head at Chloe. Her eyes were an alarmingly bright shade of emerald green, and there was something mystical about the woman in general. “I do not recognize this soul,” she said, her voice silken and thoughtful. “She does not belong here.”

“This is Detective Chloe Decker,” Lucifer stated simply, beckoning Chloe over again. They continued to stare as she walked around the table to Lucifer’s side.

“Lucifer, what is she doing here?” The male demon demanded.

“Relax, Abigor, she’s a friend,” Maze butt in, giving the other demon a glare.

“Precisely,” Lucifer continued, his voice and gaze becoming dangerous and cautionary. “And if any harm is to come of her, I swear you’ll be reminded of why I am Hell’s king. Are we clear?”

He scanned the faces of the demons, searching for confirmation. Once every demon had nodded, Lucifer seemed to relax a bit. “Excellent! Now, Maze, would you mind surrendering your seat for the Detective?

Maze’s lip twitched, and she looked up at Lucifer in ridicule. “Seriously?”

“Lucifer, it’s fine, I can just-” Chloe started, but was interrupted by Lucifer.

“Yes, seriously.”

There was a pause where demon and Devil held each other’s gaze in steady defiance. Chloe noticed the other demons around the table raising eyebrows at the quiet feud, perhaps surprised to see Maze acting as Lucifer’s equal.

“Fine,” Maze barked after some time, getting up noisily from her seat. “For her.  _ Not _ for you.”

“Thanks, Maze,” Chloe said awkwardly, and the demon at least gave her a kind little shrug. The detective settled in the seat, and Lucifer, too, sat back down. Maze hovered not far behind, her arms crossed impatiently.

“You already met Maze and Mofran,” Lucifer started in his introduction. “This is Abigor, Hell’s military commander.”

The male demon, Abigor, nodded his head in greeting. Chloe smiled politely.

“And this is Gorgon. She keeps track of all the souls in Hell.”

“Hello, Chloe,” Gorgon greeted.

“Hi,” the human responded meekly. 

“Right, well, let’s get back to our boring meeting,” Lucifer urged after a brief pause. 

Mofran cleared his throat and sat forward in his chair. “Lucifer, you were away from Hell for a long time. Relatively, you’ve only been back a short time-”

“Relatively being the operative word-” Lucifer grumbled.

“The demons have grown restless. They’re beginning to doubt your leadership-”

“That’s becoming a common theme nowadays,” the devil  added with a frown at Maze.

“Abigor reports there’s been an increase in demon attempts to escape Hell in favor of Earth. Gorgon says they’ve become sloppy about their jobs and now the souls aren’t receiving the full amount of torture they should be-”

“All things we discussed at our last meeting a century ago. Are we done yet?”

“Lucifer, there’s talk of a rebellion,” Abigor broke in suddenly. The room fell quiet, and Lucifer perked an eyebrow at the military commander.

“A rebellion?” he repeated. “Sounds exciting.”

“This isn’t a game! The demons don’t trust you anymore. A rebellion would mean anarchy which could jeopardize all of Hell.”

“Fine! I’ll dig the pitchfork from out of the closet and throw my weight around. Would that make you happy?”

Abigor’s nostrils flared, and Mofran worried his lip. No one said anything, but Chloe was acutely aware that the issue was not entirely settled in the Council’s eyes.

“Now, can we discuss our recently escaped human soul?” Lucifer urged. “Cain broke out, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now. I want him found.”

“He’s just some human soul,” Abigor remarked dismissively, “he’ll turn up eventually.”

Lucifer opened his mouth to shout angry obscenities, but Gorgon spoke before he could. “He’s not just ‘some human soul.’ This is  _ Cain _ we are talking about. His soul has been long due.”

“Yes, well you can thank my father for that,” said Lucifer bitterly. 

“Besides,” Maze cut in, leaning forward with two hands on the table, a dangerous smirk playing on the corners of her lips, “he owes me a chat.”

Chloe shuddered. Maze had been dangerous before, back on Earth. Now they were in a place where her violence was not only condoned, but encouraged. Short of a second death, there was no limit to what pain the demon could now inflict. And knowing Maze, dying would surely be a mercy for Pierce.

“I might also point out,” Mofran added, “that failing to apprehend an escaped soul - particularly one as familiar as Cain - would further degrade Lucifer’s image.”

“Great, then it’s settled,” Lucifer confirmed, clapping his hands together, “I want Cain found. Send out the Hellhounds. All of them.”

“You want to send out  _ all _ the Hellhounds? At once?” Abigor repeated disapprovingly. “That would be utter chaos.”

“I trust you can manage just fine, Abigor.”

The demon narrowed his eyes. “Very well.”

“Excellent!”

Mofran raised a tentative hand. “Eh, well that’s all well and good, we really should finish discussing those other issues we were talking about. Lucifer? Anarchy and all that?”

Lucifer waved a hand dismissively. “I’m sure we’ll sort it all out.”

 

* * *

He’d insisted on giving her the grand tour of the castle, and Chloe wasn’t about to say no. As impressive as the place was, she had the distinct feeling the walk itself was beneficial to them both. After the tour, they’d begun simply walking aimlessly around the castle, their footsteps the only sounds bouncing off the otherwise-silent stone halls.

“You have a lot on your plate down here,” Chloe said for sake of conversation. “Is that usual?”

Lucifer shrugged. “It’s always something, but I suppose there is more tension than usual.”

They walked on quietly again, wandering a hallway that looped the outside of the castle. Windows, spaced incrementally on the wall to their right, provided flashing glimpses of reality.

“Detective,” Lucifer said suddenly, stopping and resting a hand on her shoulder. Chloe paused beside him, frowning in concern. He was reluctant to meet her gaze. Lucifer released a frustrated breath as he finally looked her in the eyes. “Chloe…”

Chloe’s skin prickled. There was something profound about him using her first name, as though doing so signaled Earth-shattering news. “Yes?” Chloe urged.

“Please return to Earth. With Pierce, and now this supposed rebellion-”

Chloe put up a hand to quiet him. “Lucifer, we’ve been over this. I’m not going anywhere.”

Lucifer sighed again. “You don’t understand!”

“Then explain it to me.”

He paused, searching her face for… something. “This place… Hell, it…” He looked away, glaring out the window as though he could smite Hell into oblivion. “It… makes me different - something horrible.”

Chloe reached up and touched his chin gently, drawing his gaze back to her. “It doesn’t have to this time.”

He shook his head, giving her a bittersweet smile. “It will. It always does.”

“Then let’s leave. Let’s go back to Earth and take Maze with us.  

“As much as I hate this place and as much as I claim to be apathetic about it, I know my place. Amenadiel is right; when Hell is out of order, it poses a danger to Earth. With Pierce running amuck and an alleged rebellion in the making, there’s no telling what could happen. I need to fix what’s going on down here. And I’m afraid that… I’m afraid I may have to become something I despise to do so. I don’t want you to see that.”

That was it; she couldn’t take any more of this chest-tightening sympathy.

Chloe wrapped her arms around Lucifer’s torso, drawing him in for a hug. She felt him tense slightly, unsure of himself, then finally relax and rest his own arms around her. His embrace was warm and steadying, and he soothed her just as much as the reverse was true. Pressing her cheek against his chest, she could just about hear his heart thumping steadily. 

“Whatever happens, whatever you have to do” Chloe murmured, you’ll always be ‘Lucifer’ to me.”

She felt him release an uneasy breath, something between doubt and relief. He was quiet for a moment.

“That’s very kind of you to say,” Lucifer hummed at last.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh wow guys. It has been WAY too long and I am so, so sorry to leave you all hanging on the last chapter. To give you the short version, I had issues with my router, a long trip, and then I somehow convinced myself I had already posted the last chapter. I only realized I'm an idiot last week. Yikes! But I'm back now! Please don't murder me!
> 
> This is it, everyone! The long overdue conclusion to this wild ride of a fic. Stay tuned for a little author's note where I'll be discussing my original ideas for the fic, why I made the choices I did concerning the plot, etc.
> 
> Thank you all so, so much for sticking with me and this fic. I love each and every one of your comments, so please dont be shy. A million times, thank you for all the support!
> 
> Oh! And something I forgot to mention in the fic itself: remember that Chloe does still make Lucifer vulnerable. That may or may not come into play.
> 
> Finally, the nineth and final chapter...
> 
> ENJOY!

Time truly was strange in Hell. Chloe had been there a week and had felt no hunger, yet her body still yearned for routine sleep every twelve hours. It was too bad that Einstein (most likely) wasn’t damned, because he would have a field day rationalizing the relativity of Hell.

Seven days divided by three hundred sixty-five divided by sixty; that was how long it had been on Earth. It was a given number of decimal places short of a single second, she knew that much. When at last she returned, it would be as though she’d never left - on Earth, at least.

She found Lucifer in the throne room, sitting with his hands steepled against his chin, leaning forward in deep concentration.

“Hey,” Chloe greeted. Lucifer looked up at her and smiled as he sat upright.

“Detective,” he responded in return, “How’d you sleep?”

“Alright, thanks.”

He scooted over in his throne and patted the space beside him, inviting Chloe to sit. She did so with a gracious smile.

_ Sitting on the King of Hell’s throne. “Introducing Detective Chloe Decker, Queen of Hell, and her partner Lucifer, the true King!” _

Yep, she was a teenage boy with Pornhub.

They sat quietly for a few moments. When had things become so  _ awkward _ between them? And when had Lucifer become so quiet? Come to think of it, he’d been like this practically the whole time she’d been with him in Hell. Chloe looked up him and, yeah, he was lost in thought again, staring off into the distance. 

“Lucifer?”

 “Hm?” He blinked and turned to look at her, perking his eyebrows casually. 

“What’s wrong?”

He looked away. “The Hellhounds didn’t find anything.”

Chloe chewed on her lip, finding herself again in the helpless position of wanting to support him, but having no idea how. “Now what?”

Lucifer sucked in a large breath, then exhaled in a forceful sigh. “Now… Now I hold a meeting with every demon who can spare the time. I’m going to offer a deal to any demon who can provide information leading to Pierce’s capture.”

“What will you offer them?”

He finally looked back at her, smirking. “What any creature wants,” Lucifer responded, “To move up the food chain, per say.”

“What, a higher position? It could work. You think it will, even with all this talk of a rebellion?”

He shrugged. “I’d say to pray to Dad that it does, but… well, it’s best to spare your dignity.”

Chloe smiled at him. “Yeah, your dad seems like a dick.”

Lucifer raised his eyebrows at her. “Careful, Detective, that is  _ God _ you’re talking about - and now you’re fully aware of it. You’re not going to feel guilty later about saying that, are you?”

“No,” she said with another grin, bumping against his shoulder playfully, “No, I don’t think He deserves my guilt for bad mouthing Him.”

“You truly are fascinating, Detective.”

“I think you said that already the day that we met.”

The two smiled warmly at each other, holding one another’s gaze. And for a fraction of a second, all was right with the world - Earth, Hell, and otherwise.

“Lucifer!” Both him and Chloe looked up at the sudden sound of Maze’s voice. She and Mofran were walking towards them and they stopped a few feet away. Maze raised a curious eyebrow at both Chloe and Lucifer. Her lips curled into a sly smile. “Sorry, we don’t have time for you guys to bang right now.”

“The demons are here. They're waiting outside,” Mofran explained with a glare at Maze. “Abigor has his legion patrolling Hell as previously planned.”

Lucifer nodded. With so many of Hell’s demons busy elsewhere, there was a chance Pierce might try to escape. It was important that Abigor’s troops were circling Hell, keeping an eye out for the escapee.

“I suppose there’s no hope you’ll agree to wait in your room?” Lucifer asked Chloe.

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“Very well,” He relented with a sigh. “There’s a small crevice in the wall up there where you should be able to climb up and hide”

Chloe followed his pointing finger and spotted a small nook in the wall to her left about ten feet off the ground, positioned towards the end of the room furthest from the door. If she had to guess, it was probably some sort of medieval-style ventilation system. A few feet away was one of the pedestals on which Lucifer displayed artifacts. If she  the pedestal over to the crevice, she would be just tall enough to reach it so that she could pull herself up. “Yeah, I can do that,” Chloe agreed after a moment.

“It will have to suffice.” Lucifer turned his gaze to Maze. “Well, then, I suppose there's no point in waiting. Let them in.”

Lucifer adjusted himself to sit regally in his throne as Maze positioned herself, cross-armed and furrowed brows, beside him. Chloe scurried to her hiding place, dragged the pedestal over, set the bloodied cloth it was displaying on the ground, and pulled herself up It was cozier than she had anticipated, Chloe realized as she half-slid, half-scrambled into the tiny space. The crevice was barely two feet tall and Chloe had a brief moment of panic where, laying the wrong way flat on her belly, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to turn herself around. Carefully, however, she managed to pivot back around so she could lay facing outwards. She had a view of the door, about half the room, and the backs of Lucifer and Maze’s heads

Mofran glanced apprehensively about the room. He’d moved to stand beside the doors and was waiting patiently to see that everyone had settled into place. Once he’d confirmed they had, he took a deep breath and swung open the doors.

The room was instantly engulfed by a quiet chatter as, after a brief moment of hesitation, a flood of dark-clad demons filled the room. Mofran stepped to the side of the door to avoid being trampled, just out of Chloe’s view. As the demons swarmed in, the front row kept a healthy distance of about ten feet away from Lucifer’s throne and the podium on which it sat. 

Lucifer raised a hand and almost instantly the room fell silent. The demons trained their eyes on their king as he rose to standing. There was something different about his demeanor now, Chloe noted internally. Though she couldn’t see his face, she was sure by the tension in his shoulders and the way his head had turned to study the congregation of demons that he had all at once become composed and authoritative - regal. Needless to say, it was a side of Lucifer she had never seen. 

“I imagine you’re all perfectly aware of why you’re here,” Lucifer began, apparently needing no introduction. He scanned the crowd, piercing eyes studying every movement as he began pacing the length of the podium. “What you have heard it true. The infamous Cain escaped his loop four days ago.  _ Four days _ and yet he has not been found!” His voice was rising in intensity now and he had stopped in his pacing. “I ask you, how is it possible that one mere mortal can hide within Hell and not a  _ single  _ demon has found him, be it by accident or intent?”

The demons shifted slightly, as though the wave of shame he had evoked would disperse with motion. The corner of his lip twitched slightly, and every time a demon’s eyes would meet his aggravated gaze, they’d look away sharply.

Lucifer continued, his voice calmer and richer now, closer to how it usually sounded. “Perhaps a little incentive will move things along? I offer a seat on my Council to any demon who finds Cain and brings him to me.”

A quiet murmur rippled through the crowd, and Lucifer took up his pacing again as the excited whispering and truce-making occured.

“It’s not our problem!” A tenor voice yelled suddenly.

Lucifer’s gaze snapped back to the crowd, wildly scanning for the source of the voice. His voice was dark and calculating when he spoke. “I beg your pardon?”

“Yeah!” Another voice, a woman’s cried, “What makes you think we’ll listen to  _ you _ ?”

Maze straightened herself, her arms dropping to her sides. “You’d be wise to stay in your place.”

All at once a cacophony of angered voices erupted. Chloe could only pick out snippets from the voices that carried over the rest. Lucifer put out a hand to stop Maze from launching herself at the crowd, likely to keep her from committing a massacre.

“-back to Earth!”

“-you can’t expect us to-”

“-fuck off!”

“-think you are!?”

“-deserve to be our king, you-”

“-and start barking orders-”

Chloe’s gaze was drawn by unexpected motion from the far side of the room. Abigor, with Mofran treading close on his heels, was threading his way through the dense crowd towards Lucifer. The two broke out from the front row and met Lucifer on the podium.

“Did you find him?” Lucifer asked impatiently. Maze stood, twitching, at his side.

“I did,” Abigor responded simply, eyeing the crowd.

“ _ And? _ ”

The demon’s gaze returned to Lucifer, his expression turning grim. “You should have stayed in Hell, Lucifer.”

All at once, the front entrance doors burst open and in swarmed tall, armoured demons with bows, spears, swords, and other various blades in hand. They formed two lines which diverged as they entered and lined the walls of the room, encircling the crowd.

Maze withdrew two trusty hell-forged blades, her hostile gaze scorching Abigor. “What did you do?”

The other demon lifted his head indignantly. “What had to be done to save Hell.”

“Why, you-” Lucifer began, but he was quickly interrupted by another man’s voice carrying over the crowd.

“Looks like you have a rebellion on your hands, Lucifer!”

A chill coursed the length of Chloe’s spine.

Pierce.

He shouldered up through the crowd, the demons quickly quieting, watching, and parting the way in front of them as he strode, smirking, towards Lucifer. He stopped abruptly at the base of the podium. Pierce wore the same clothes he had been the day of his death, but they were slightly darkened from ash. There was no hole in his shirt from the blade that had been wedged between his ribs should have been.

Chloe could hardly breathe. Maze glanced at him, but remained otherwise focused on Abigor in case he made a move against her or Lucifer.

“Why is no one apprehending him!?” Lucifer practically shouted. He was physically shaking from the sheer will it was taking to keep himself still. This wasn’t Earth, this was Hell, and he needed to be calculating about his actions down here.

“Because they know better,” Pierce answered. “Abigor’s legion could wipe them out in a heartbeat. Well, that and at least a third of your assembly are... in favor of a change in leadership.”

Lucifer clenched his jaw, breathing shakily.

“You were gone for eight years, Lucifer. That’s a  _ long _ time in Hell. Your demons began to doubt your leadership-”

“Shut your Goddamn mouth,” Maze hissed, jerking a knife in Pierce’s direction. Chloe could have sworn there was a flash of something else’s face superimposed over Maze’s own.

Pierce went on, ignoring Maze. “You  _ abandoned _ them. All they want is a true king.”

Lucifer scoffed. “Oh, and I suppose that’d be you?”

The human shrugged nonchalauntly. “I can give the demons the leadership they deserve. You abandoned them, but I won’t.” His eyes turned suddenly to Maze. “I won’t leave you behind, Maze.”

The room was utterly silent. Something in Maze’s expression had shifted to one of contemplation, and she took a few steps towards Pierce to clear the distance between them. 

“No, no, no. Don’t do it Maze,” Chloe hissed just under her breath. As she watched, Maze stood directly in front of Pierce, eyeing him thoughtfully.

Ever so slowly, she leaned forward so her lips were by his ear. In the silence, she could hear the demon reply, cool and defiant, “Eat me.”

Maze stepped back, her typical sneer returned, and Pierce sighed dejectedly. “I can’t force you to make the right decision.”

“Pierce, we all know you just want to get back at me,” Lucifer barked, “Leave Hell alone and let’s settle this like real immortal men.”

The legion took a warning step forward. Pierce shook his head in disappointment. “Don’t be arrogant, Lucifer. This is one of those instances where not everything is about you.”

“Pierce, just stop!” Chloe shouted suddenly. All eyes snapped in her direction. She had climbed down unnoticed and now stood just off to the side. “Stop this. All this fighting? You settled this on Earth. Surrender now and I’m sure Lucifer will be reasonable putting you back in your loop.”

> _ “Chloe- is she safe?” _

The assembly’s voices had risen again and the demons gazed curiously at her. She was a fascinating creature, one they had never seen before, and something that shouldn’t even exist in Hell: a living human. Every demon knew it. Chloe tried to ignore the creeping sense of dread oozing down her spine.

Pierce had lost all his cool composure. “What is she doing here?” He demanded. “You told me she was safe!”

Lucifer’s gaze flicked away from Chloe and back to his rival. “She was, and she is, no thanks to you.”

Chloe could see Pierce’s jaw clench, studying her first angrily then thoughtfully. A few moments later, he suddenly turned to the crowd and gestured towards Chloe like she was some kind of display. “Do you see this? Your supposed king can’t even keep one mortal safe from an unimaginable danger. You can’t  _ really _ think he could protect Hell, do you?”

“Pierce, just-” Chloe started.

“And  _ you _ ,” Pierce interjected, turning and taking a few steps towards her, “You had better come with me or else I can’t swear Trixie’s safety.”

“You son of a-” Chloe’s blood boiled;  _ Nobody  _ threatened her daughter. But before she could finish, Lucifer stepped back in front of Cain, standing toe to toe with him:

“Stop this now, or so help me I’ll-”

“You’ll what? What do you think you’re going to do? You’re surrounded by Hell’s strongest army. You have no authority, and no support from the demons.”

“Stop hiding behind a rebellion!” It was Mofran this time, unexpected and more confident than anyone in the room had ever heard him before. The chatter from the assembly quieted yet again. Mofran marched up to Pierce and stood with his chin high. “A real king wouldn’t need a war to prove himself worthy.”

Pierce narrowed his eyes at the demon, allowing a moment of contemplation. “Fine,” he finally hissed in response, then sharply turning his gaze back to Lucifer, “I formally challenge you. Here and now.”

Lucifer’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Gladly.”

The demon crowd chattered excitedly. There hadn’t been something as exciting as this since… since ever.

Wordlessly, Pierce and Lucifer move to the center of the room, where the crowd had opened up to form a ring for the duel. The rewards for the victor were clear: not only control of Hell, but also Chloe’s safety hung in the balance. The human stepped onto the podium for a better view, Maze standing protectively beside her. The demon kept her attention on Abigor, though Chloe knew she would be watching the fight from the corner of her eye.

Lucifer adjusted the cuffs of his suit, grinning devilishly at his opponent. A jarring discord of jeers and taunts had erupted from the assembly of demons. One of the demons tossed Pierce a silvery blade as the two combatants circled each other.

“A bit of deja vu, Cain?” Lucifer quipped.

Pierce snorted. “You’re right,” he replied coolly, tossing the blade to the side, “I don’t need this.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow and cooed slightly with amusement. 

“Quit dancing and kick his ass already!” some demon shouted. It wasn’t clear who he was talking to, but it seemed to get things moving.

The two men continued circling each other, Pierce glaring with ferocious concentration and Lucifer grinning confidently.

Pierce was the first to move, attempting a volley of sharp jabs that Lucifer knocked away effortlessly. On the last punch, however, when Lucifer batted his fist to the side, Pierce grabbed Lucifer’s wrist and slammed his fist into the devil's gut.

Lucifer chuckled, jumping away and shaking off the hit. “Well then! Lucky blow.”

“I’ve been spending some time with the demons. I’ve picked up a few things.”

The devil smirked. “Have you now?”

Cain jerked forward again and, in a flurry of motions Chloe couldn’t track, managed to land a blow to Lucifer’s cheek and jaw. 

Lucifer made a sound in his throat halfway between a chuckle and a growl. His eyes had darkened and his expression had turned bitter. 

Pierce threw a punch again, but this time Lucifer ducked and jabbed his own fist into Pierce’s side. The human released a sharp, pained breath, but quickly grabbed Lucifer’s head and bashed it over his knee. Lucifer stood back for a moment, his nose crooked and streaming blood. There was a deathly fire in his twitching eyes and a sadistic smile planted on his face. Chloe shivered again at the sight of him.

There was another flurry of limbs Chloe couldn’t track. Pierce threw a punch which Lucifer grabbed and twisted so he was standing behind the human, grasping the man in a choke hold. Pierce slammed his elbow back once, twice, three times into Lucifer’s side. The devil finally let go when Pierce kicked backwards into his groin.

Lucifer growled and spit up a glob of blood. Pierce smirked, one eye darkened and swollen, as he stood in a ready stance before the devil.

Pierce threw his fist, but again Lucifer ducked. This time, the devil landed a blow square in Pierce’s throat. In one smooth motion, Lucifer swung his leg around and swept Pierce’s legs out from under him. The human collapse to the ground, clasping his throat and gasping for air. Lucifer kicked him in the belly, and Pierce cried out in pain.

The crowd had gone quiet all at once, recognizing that Lucifer had not gone as soft as they'd thought. Chloe winced at the now crystal-clear, reverberating sound of Pierce gasping for breath and writhing in pain.

Lucifer walked calmly around Caine, readjusting his suit again. Then, effortlessly, he grabbed Pierce by the collar and pinned him against a pillar so hard the thing cracked.

“You killed Charlotte Richards,” Lucifer snarled, striking Pierce once in the face.

“You led a rebellion against me.”

Twice.

“You tried to manipulate Maze.”

Three times.

“You threaten Trixie-”

Four-

“And you threaten Chloe”

Five-

Six-

Lucifer’s devil face had appeared. Pierce’s consciousness was fading, and Lucifer grabbed his head by the chin and shook him to try and force the human awake.

“I’m going to make you wish you could die again.”

Seven, eight, nine-

“Lucifer, stop!” Chloe cried.

His bloody first hovered by unconscious Pierce’s bruised, crimson, swollen, almost unrecognizable face. Lucifer’s devil face and red eyes stared back at her with unrivaled hostility, and Chloe fought every instinct telling her to run.

“He has to pay, Chloe,” Lucifer demanded, “He has to be punished.”

“I know, but it doesn’t have to be you, and it doesn’t have to be like this!”

“Yes it does!” Lucifer shouted, and Chloe flinched. “This is who I am, and this is what I do!”

Chloe shook her head. “No it’s not. It doesn’t have to be.” The eyes of every entity in the room, save Pierce, was steadily trained on her as she stepped down from the podium and cautiously approached Lucifer. “Lucifer, Pierce will get what he deserves. You don’t have to sacrifice who you want to be to punish him. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”

Lucifer stood, breathing unevenly. There was a moment of indecisiveness where Chloe feared he might not believe her. Eventually, however, Lucifer’s demon face dissolved back into his more familiar one. He dropped Pierce and the unconscious human slumped to a heap on the floor.

Lucifer's face had morphed into one of pain and shame. He turned to Chloe, unable to meet her comforting gaze. “I’m sorry. I told you, I didn’t want you to see me like that.”

Chloe hushed him, wordlessly moving forward and pulling him into a hug he had no energy to return. She pressed her ear into his chest, holding tightly in the vain hope she could keep him from shattering into a million pieces. She focused on the steady thumping of his heart until finally -  _ finally _ \- he wrapped his arms around her, too. They both sniffled as they stepped out of the hug, gazing fondly at each other. When Chloe glanced over his shoulder, she gaped in surprise.

“Lucifer…”

All the demons in the room had taken a knee, bowing their heads with one fisted hand over their hearts. Even Abigor and Maze, Chloe noticed, were kneeling in salutation. Lucifer turned, taking in the sight of his subjects, and nodded.

He stepped quietly onto the podium, signaling for the demons to stand.

“I see now Hell's need for a leader, but I also will not remain here. Earth is my home now.”

A quiet chatter cycled through the crowd, and Lucifer raised a hand to quiet them.

“I won’t, however, leave you without a leader again. I’ll pop by once every Earth year to ensure things are still running smoothly, and Maze shall rule on my behalf.”

“Actually,” Maze interjected suddenly, “I don’t think Hell is my home anymore.” She cast a glance in Chloe’s direction. “My family is on Earth. Linda, Trixie, Chloe…” Maze returned her gaze to Lucifer. “I want to go back.”

Lucifer and Chloe both smiled at her. “Very well,” the king said. “Then… Mofran will rule in my absence.”

The demon in question blinked in surprise, gaping like a fish. “I-I… what? Lucifer, you… wow. Thank you. I’m humbled.” He bowed deeply from the waist.

Lucifer clapped his hands together. “Well then, I think that’s settled. I trust Abigor and Caine will be properly dealt with.”

“Of Course,” Mofran assured him, “I know just what to do with them.” 

The king gave a few more minutes of speech in which he pardoned the demons, other than Abigor, who had participated in the rebellion, though he didn’t neglect to leave a not-so-subtle threat should they even consider attempting their plans. The message seemed to be received loud and clear. Then, after a few moments of farewell, the crowd of demons swarmed back out the door. Mofran, in a hushed voice, tasked a few trusted demons with taking Pierce and Abigor away to their unknown, assuredly-horrible fate.

The entryway doors closed with a satisfying bang. Mofran, Maze, Chloe, and Lucifer were suddenly plunged into near silence, though Chloe’s ears were still ringing from the immense noise the crowd had been making.

“I’m gonna go pack my knives,” Maze announced all of a sudden. The demon swung around and marched out through the hallway, the heels of her tall boots clicking on the stone floors.

Mofran watched her go with a curious expression. “She really wants to go back to Earth? I’ve been, and it’s not all that great.” He cast a sheepish glance at Chloe. “No offense.”

Chloe shrugged. “None taken.”

“Earth is… an acquired taste,” Lucifer responded.

“If you ask me, I’ll take Earth over Hell any day,” Chloe added. “It was nice meeting you, Mofran. I’m sure you’ll make a great substitute for Lucifer while he’s gone.” Chloe said, extending a hand.

“You too, Chloe.” Mofran shook her extended hand politely. “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will,” Lucifer assured him, clapping the demon on the back.

Maze returned, her duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a bored look on her face. She stopped beside the small group, then proceeded to study Mofran until he began squirming under her gaze.

“Eh… Maze,” Mofran greeted awkwardly.

“Mofran,” Maze murmured in response. She stared a moment longer before, in an unexpected turn of events, she smiled faintly and gave Mofran a friendly punch on the shoulder. “It was good seeing you, man. ‘Till next time.”

The other demon rubbed his shoulder, wincing. He was utterly baffled and clearly taken aback by Maze’s strange attitude. “Yeah, uh… y-you too.”

“Well, shall we?” Lucifer asked.

Chloe sighed, taking a glance around the room. “I hope I never have to see this place again,” she murmured. Then, glancing at the three others around her, she added, “No offense, of course.”

The three chuckled softly. “None taken, Chloe,” Mofran assured her with a smile, “None taken.”

“Let’s get a move one,” Maze grumbled, stepping nearer to Lucifer. Chloe followed suit, standing on Lucifer’s other side.

“Everyone ready?” Lucifer asked, glancing at the two women. Both Chloe and Maze nodded. “Very well.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw two magnificent, large, white wings shoot out from Lucifer’s spine. She couldn’t help but gape. Even Mofran looked a bit shocked.

“Detective?” Lucifer asked, sounding much like Amenadiel had. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, “Sorry, I just keep forgetting you’re an angel.”

Lucifer hummed softly and gave her a bittersweet smile.

“Farewell!” Mofran called, and the three echoed him in response.

Chloe felt a stomach dropping lurch, the ground fall out from under her, that feeling of being detached from her body, then the sudden comfort of land back under her feet.

Earth. She was home again.

It would take some adjusting, of course. It wasn’t like everything with Lucifer and Maze and Amenadiel and  _ Hell _ was just going to fade into the past. No, Chloe was fully aware that, though she fully believed the worst was behind her, there were still hurdles to jump through with Lucifer for things to feel like… well, whatever their new normal was. It was going to take time and patience, but Chloe was fully prepared to do whatever she would need to in order to keep her friends - friends who’d become so much more than that - in her life. Hell was, for the most part, behind them now, and all there was to focus on was whatever would come next.

Chloe breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Home. We’re home.”


	10. Author's Note

AUTHOR'S NOTE

 

Hello again!

I’m guessing Authors Notes aren’t common, but I feel obligated to leave a kind of self-reflection on this work, so… yeah. I’m going to be referencing the fanfiction itself, of course, so if you haven’t read that yet HURRY UP and I’ll be waiting for you once you’re done. I’m also going to reference Season four of Lucifer, so expect spoilers it you haven’t seen it yet. Also, forgive me because this is all mostly unedited brain vomit. Enjoy!

So we made it to the end! If you read my “Notes” on the first chapter, you might remember I said that this fanfiction took me way too long to write. With school work, writer’s block, and life in general, I was finding it hard to obtain the mindset I needed to finish out the work. I took a break from writing in the middle of the last chapter, right after Maze and Mofran showed up saying the crowd had arrived and all that. It was so frustrating because I knew what I wanted to write, in terms of content, but I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to write it. I’m not great when it comes to writing conflict scenes, so I really wanted to be in the best mindset writing that climactic fight between Pierce and Lucifer. The quality still isn’t quite as high as I would have liked, but hopefully it turned out alright!

Speaking of writing conflict scenes, I was actually initially going to write out a WHOLE rebellion story, but like I said, I’m typically no good at writing conflict scenes, so the idea of writing about actual battles and wars was daunting, to say the least. I do think that the story as it was published - with the duel between Pierce and Lucifer - worked out alright… right?

I’m not in love with this ending. I’m so sorry! Honestly, I kind of rushed through writing the resolution, and resolutions are already my greatest weakness to begin with. In my planning phase for writing this story, I wrote my outline up to the duel scene, and then just completely forgot to outline the resolution. Oops. Yeah, I’ll work on that for future fics, I promise!

When I took that little break from writing I mentioned earlier, it was right around the time that season four was released. (AGAIN, SPOILER WARNING). I was kind of freaking out at the parallels that I could draw between the newest season and my fic. A lot of it was, of course, to be expected: Chloe freaking out and being a complete mess; Maze and Ella mending things; etc. What I found most surprising was the season finale. I mean, I suppose Lucifer returning to Hell was bound to happen (we haven’t seen much of it in the show and it makes a great plot for the series finale; that’s the very reason I wrote this fic in the first place), but I was still so awesome to see that parallel.

The main reason I wanted to write a little author’s note was because I know there’s probably some holes or details in the fic that didn’t really get explained thoroughly. The explanations made it to my planning document, but I’m not certain how clearly it came across in the fic itself. That being said, if there’s anything your confused on, I’d be happy to try and explain it.

For those of you wondering, I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to write any kind of sequel or continuation. Most likely, I won’t be. The ending is left kind of open partially in case I want to continue it. Mostly it's just because, despite the fact that there’s still going to be tension between Chloe and Lucifer after all they’ve just gone through, we all know they’re obviously going to resolve all their issues.

I want to thank all of you for sticking around to enjoy this fanfiction and to listen to my ramblings in this little self-reflection kind of Author’s Note. I had so much fun writing it and reading all your comments. Please know that you can still feel free to leave a comment, even if you’re a bit late to finding this fic! I love interacting with you guys; it’s honestly a crucial part in making me want to keep writing.

Until next time!


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